In this study, the effects of critical depth of cut and wheel wear were investigated to realize efficient precision grinding of CVD-SiC by ductile mode grinding at low cost. To compare the results under experimental conditions, Vickers indentation tests and grinding experiments were conducted. As a result of the Vickers indentation test at an applied load of 0.015 N, the minimum indentation load in this study, the indentation depth was 1.3 μm, and cracks were observed at the corners of the indentation isotropically. Additionally, the pile-up was observed around the indentation, suggesting that plastic deformation due to shear flow was relatively large. Grinding experiments were conducted using grinding wheels with different grain sizes. All the grinding conditions in this study resulted in a surface with a mixture of brittle and ductile modes. The proportion of ductile modes was larger, and the surface roughness Ra was smaller when a grindstone with a smaller grain size was used. Additionally, the effect of wear was investigated. As wear progressed, the number of protruding grains decreased, resulting in a smaller surface roughness. These results indicate that the amount of protruding abrasive grains must be controlled to achieve stable ductile mode grinding.

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