Wear behavior of the abrasive grains used in optical glass polishing

In this work the wear behavior of cerium oxide abrasive grains during the glass polishing was studied. Polishing tests have been done by different types of cerium oxide abrasive grains. The grains have been recovered and examined during the operation. The morphology, the granulometric distribution, the chemical composition and the agglomeration phenomenon of recovered grains have been studied. The results showed that the fracture is the main cause of the abrasive grain wear of the cerium oxide abrasive grains, which permitted to the abrasive grains to preserve their initial morphology for a long time during the process. The cerium oxide abrasive grains undergo a partial wear during their use in polishing and it is closely related to the process parameters. The granular agglomeration phenomenon of the abrasive powder is very much present in the polishing process and generates bigger grains being able to influence the product quality.