Study of Ultra-precision Finishing Techniques for Brittle Materials

Abstract

Wide application of hard and brittle advanced ceramics, glasses and semiconductors in Mechanical, Optical and Electronic industry has led to the development of new ultra-precision finishing processes. With an increase in the applications of these materials, the need of finishing these materials has also become a great challenge. Dimensional and finish accuracies are the parameters that needs to be focused and improved with minimum time and cost. Another crucial parameter is the subsurface damages that are quiet common with these materials during finishing process. New processes have been developed to overcome the drawbacks of the existing processes for Nano finishing. These processes can be classified as Conventional, Precision and Ultra-precision finishing based on the degree of dimensional accuracy and final surface finish. Both loose and bonded abrasives have been used for these processes. This paper deals with the study of some of the significant advances in ultra-precision finishing processes of hard and brittle materials.