Generation mechanism modeling of surface topography in tangential ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding with green silicon carbide abrasive wheel

Tangential ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding (TUAG) has a wide prospect in machining difficult-to-machine materials. However, the surface generation mechanism in TUAG is not fully recovered. This study proposes an analytical model of the surface topography produced by TUAG. Based on the model, the surface topography and roughness are predicted and experimentally verified. In addition, the influence of the grinding parameters on the surface topography is analyzed. The predicted surface topography well coincides with experimental measurements, and the prediction error in surface roughness Ra by the proposed model is less than 5%. Compared with conventional grinding, TUAG produces a surface with more uniform scratches and surface roughness Ra was reduced by up to 27% with the proper parameters. However, the improvement of surface roughness in TUAG is weakened when grinding speed or depth of cut increases. Moreover, the influence of the ultrasonic vibration amplitude on the surface roughness is not monotonous. With the grinding parameters selected in this study, TUAG with an ultrasonic amplitude of 7.5 μm produces the minimum surface roughness.