Improvement of surface integrity in the grinding of bioceramic partially stabilized zirconia using analytical, numerical, and experimental methods

In the present paper, the impact of grinding on the surface integrity of the PSZ is investigated through analytical, numerical, and experimental studies. The analytical model of the single grit grinding of the PSZ was developed by taking into consideration the strain rate, the grinding temperature, and the phase transformation of the zirconia. Numerical modeling of the grinding-induced SSD and analysis of the relationship between the parameters of this process and crack formation were performed in the ABAQUS Software via coupled finite element – smoothed particle hydrodynamics (FE-SPH) method. The results showed that, in all cases, the experimental data fall within the ranges calculated via the analytical approach. Moreover, the numerical model revealed that, on average, the numerical results differed from the respective experimental data by less than 15%. Investigation of SEM images of the ground surface indicated more than 17% improvement in the surface integrity together with a reduction in the SSD at 100 μm beneath the ground surface from 3.4% down to 0.9%. The ground surface was further studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, with the results indicating the correspondence of the trend of the phase transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic to the increasing trend of the surface integrity and bending strength.