Abstract
Silicon carbide (SiC) has been used for many engineering applications because of their high strength at high temperatures and high resistances to chemical degradation. SiC is very useful especially for a glass lens mold whose components demanded to the machining with good surface finish and low surface damage. The performance and reliability of optical components are strongly influenced by the surface damage of SiC during grinding process. Therefore, the severe process condition optimization shall be necessary for the highly qualified SiC glass lens mold. Usually the major form of damage in grinding of SiC is a crack occurs at surface and subsurface. The energy introduced in the layers close to the surface leads to the formation of these cracks. The experimental studies have been carried out to get optimum conditions for grinding of silicon carbide. To get the required qualified surface finish in grinding of SiC, the selection of type of the wheel is also important. Grinding processes of sintered SiC work-pieces is carried out with varying wheel type, depth of cut and feed using diamond wheel. The machining result of the surface roughness and the number of flaws, have been analyzed by use of surface profilers and SEM.
