Microscopic removal behavior and damage of single-crystal silicon carbide under different motion forms of diamond abrasive particle

Abstract To improve the low polishing efficiency and sub-surface damage in the nano polishing process of diamond abrasive particle, this paper utilizes molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the microscopic removal behavior and damage of silicon carbide workpiece atoms under different motion forms of diamond abrasive particle. The study examines the force, number of removed atoms, atomic stacking state, and sub-surface damage depth. In addition, the effects of amplitude and frequency of vibration assistance along the y direction on atomic removal behavior, Von Mises stress and lattice ordering are emphatically analyzed. The results show that applying vibration assistance along the x , y , and z directions to the abrasive particle reduces the mean tangential force, lateral force, and normal force. The normal force has a direct impact on the depth of sub-surface damage. Vibration along the y direction by abrasive particle increases the number of removed atoms by approximately 60% and promotes more uniform activation of atoms on the processed surface, resulting in the lowest surface roughness value. Increasing the amplitude leads to more breaking of Si–C bonds, reducing the stability of the crystal structure and significantly increasing the number of removed atoms. A higher frequency results in more crystal defects and phase transitions in the workpiece, causing an accumulation of atoms on both sides of the groove. However, if the frequency is too high, the workpiece atoms undergo elastic recovery, which helps release stress, reduces the number of amorphous atoms, and lowers the depth of damage.