The Influence of Machining Conditions on Performance of Diamond Grinding of Silicon Carbide Ceramic Balls

The paper presents some results of an experimental investigation of the influence of machining conditions on the process of diamond grinding of silicon carbide ceramic balls. The process performance parameters are the rate of the ball diameter reduction, the rate of change (decreasing/increasing) of the deviation from spherical form, and the rate of change of the variation of ball lot diameter. To separate the portion due to solely the influence of the machining conditions, the authors have applied a method of graphical approximation of the time behavior of mean value of ball accuracy characteristics per batch. It has been found out that the separated portions can change upwards or downwards depending on the values of the machining conditions, namely: diamond wheel infeed, wheel feed rate, and ball-holder table rotational speed. The full factorial experiments of type 2 3 have revealed the most effective (for correcting the ball shape) combination of the factors studied, which is different for each of the three ranges of such deviation: above 300 μm, within 150–300 μm, and below 150 μm.