Development of a probabilistic algorithm of surface residual materials on Si3N4 ceramics under longitudinal torsional ultrasonic grinding

Longitudinal torsional ultrasonic-assisted grinding (LTUG) is one of the main methods to achieve high-quality and high-efficiency machining of high-performance ceramic materials. However, it isn't easy to accurately characterize the three-dimensional (3-D) surface topography due to multiple random factors during LTUG. Aiming at the complex surface features caused by multiple random factors in the LTUG of Si3N4 ceramics, a probabilistic algorithm for the height of residual material on the surface (HRMS) in LTUG of Si3N4 ceramic was proposed, and the prediction model for the 3-D surface topography and 3-D surface roughness parameters of Si3N4 ceramics in LTUG was established by using this algorithm. Simulation and experimental results show that the prediction model of 3-D surface topography and 3-D surface roughness established by the HRMS algorithm can more realistically predict the general characteristics of 3-D surface topography in LTUG under different process parameters, and the error range of the 3-D surface roughness parameter is 0–14.07%, which realizes the high-precision and high-reliability prediction of the 3-D surface topography and 3-D surface roughness parameters of the Si3N4 ceramic under LTUG.