Optimization of grinding process for hard and brittle materials based on damage evolution mechanism.

Grinding damage of hard and brittle materials has a direct impact on part strength and subsequent polishing efficiency. Damage suppression is one of the key research issues in hard and brittle material processing. Due to the uncertain damage evolution law, there is still a lack of optimization methods for the multi-step grinding process under given damage constraints. In this paper, the extended finite element method is used to establish a model between the prefabricated crack depth and final crack depth, which reveals the influence of various existing subsurface damages on crack propagation. It is found that only when the prefabricated crack depth is close to the indentation crack depth on the perfect surface, the final crack depth will be affected to some extent. To optimize the grinding process to achieve low damage, a semi-empirical model for predicting grinding damage is proposed which is suitable for process optimization and does not rely on some difficult-to-obtain parameters. Finally, based on the damage evolution law and prediction model, the core content of this paper is proposed, that is, a multi-step grinding process optimization method with variable grinding depth. This method can minimize the damage while ensuring the same processing efficiency, the damage depth is reduced by 25 %. The effectiveness of the optimization method and the correctness of the damage evolution law are proved by experiments. This method is suitable for engineering applications and has practical significance for understanding the damage evolution mechanism, which is helpful for the suppression of grinding damage and the optimization of the grinding process. • Reveal the evolution mechanism of various existing subsurface damage on crack propagation by XFEM. • Propose a semi-empirical model for grinding damage prediction suitable for process optimization. • Propose a multi-step grinding process optimization method for hard brittle materials with variable grinding depth. • Prove the effectiveness of the optimization method and the evolutionary model through experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]