The wear of an abrasive single-crystal diamond (SCD) grit affects the machining quality of the sapphire wafer. This paper aims to investigate the influence of crystallographic orientation on the wear characteristics of SCD grit scratching on sapphire.
The wear characteristics of two SCD grits (SCD100 and SCD111) with different crystallographic orientations were systematically investigated. The wear mechanism involved in the scratching process was explored. The wear morphology, scratching forces and friction coefficient during the scratching process were measured and analyzed.
The experiment results show that the wear progress of the two SCD grits is obviously different. The wear resistance of SCD111 grit is greater than that of SCD100 grit in normal wear stage. However, the SCD100 grit could remove more sapphire material than SCD111 grit. The SCD grits mainly sustain extrusion stress and shear stress during scratching on sapphire. The crystallographic orientation of SCD grits plays a significant role in the wear progress during scratching on sapphire.
The results of the experimental studies could provide a theoretical foundation for improving the fabrication of abrasive diamond tools.
