The Effect of Diamond Wheel Wear on Surface and Sub-Surface Quality in Fused Silica Optics Grinding

Abstract During the ultra-precision grinding process of fused silica optics, the micro-removal processes of brittle and hard fused silica material by diamond grits in different wheel wear states are inconsistent, which leads to the instability of the grinding quality of the components. First, the wear forms of diamond wheel in the process of grinding brittle and hard fused silica material were analysed. The main wear form of diamond grinding wheel was diamond abrasive wear. Then taking the cumulative removal volume of material as the evaluation parameter of wheel wear state, the evolution laws of surface roughness and sub-surface defects of components under different cumulative removal volume of material were studied. With the aggravation of grinding wheel wear, the surface roughness and depth of sub-surface defects layer decreased first, and then fluctuated and increased slowly. In the rapid wear stage, the falling diamond particles scratched deep grooves on the surface of components, and the roughness and sub-surface depth increased sharply. According to the results, it’s reliable to monitor the wheel wear state and predict the life of wheel.