Mechanical removal of SiC by multi-abrasive particles in fixed abrasive polishing using molecular dynamics simulation

[Display omitted] •The influence of randomly distributed multi-abrasive on removal mechanisms of SiC is explored.•Removal behavior of SiC is dominated by the cohesive effect of extrusion and shear.•The interference effects among multiple abrasives in SPA would affect the processing quality. Molecular dynamics (MD) as a powerful simulation tool revealed the mechanistic removal behaviors of SiC substrates using a fixed abrasive polishing (FAP) with randomly distributed multi-abrasive particles in a single cycle scratching at nano-scales. This study presents features of surface morphology, subsurface damage and temperature distribution of SiC substrates in nano-abrading. It is demonstrated that the exposed height and abrasive distribution of multi abrasives in a single pad asperity (SPA) dominates the removal behaviors of SiC substrates. MD simulation reveals that the random distribution of diamond abrasives in FAP pad would worsen the processing quality. Our investigation sheds new insights into the mechanical removal mechanisms of SiC in FAP at an asperity-scale.