Abstract
Production ball grinding and polishing apparatus were employed as tribometers. The volumetric wear rates of near-net-shape silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramic ball blanks and the sphericity of the final-polished bearing balls were used to examine the premises that only homogeneous Si3N4 with isotropic structural integrity can be converted into precision balls, and that the abrasive or polishing wear rate of the materials is inversely proportional to Klc 3/4·Hv 1/2 (the Evans-Wilshaw wear relationship). One hot-pressed (HP) and five hot-isostatically-pressed (HIP) silicon nitride ceramics were processed into 1.27 cm (0.5 in.) diameter bearing balls under identical preparatory conditions, after having determined the hardness (Hv) and fracture toughness (Klc) of the ball stocks by Vickers indentation and crack-tip-extension-indicated Klc measurements. The volume removed from the ground and polished balls was monitored periodically until the desired ball diameter was reached. The actual volumetric wear rates, y i...
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