Modeling and analysis of the material removal depth for stone polishing

In this paper, a model of predicting the material removal depth of the workpiece surface for the mould polishing by fixed abrasives is developed and an approach to achieve the material removal profile is presented. The effect of the grain size on material removal depth is considered. The distribution of the abrasive grain protrusion heights is taken to be Gaussian distribution. The relationship between the pressure and the depth of indentation is investigated by analyzing interaction of the abrasive grains and the workpiece. It is assumed that the pressure distribution is Hertzian at the contact between the tool and the workpiece surface. The theoretical model of linear removal intensity is presented by calculating the removal volumes of all abrasive grains participating in cutting. The depth of the material removal can be obtained by integrating the linear removal intensity along the polishing contact path formed by the polishing tool passing this position. The predicted results based on the current model are shown to be approximately consistent with the experimental results.