Damage and crack extension mechanism of hard and brittle materials induced by cyclic indentation

The cyclic indentation effect is widespread in vibration-assisted grinding processes. The understanding of the material removal mechanism during cyclic indentation is scientifically important for the improvement of the quality of vibratory grinding. Therefore, in this paper, the cyclic indentation damage and crack extension mechanisms of quartz glass are investigated by experiments and finite element simulations. The evolution of surface cracks under cyclic loading from 0.203 N to 1.81 N is observed by scanning electron microscopy. The distribution of the maximum principal stress during cyclic indentation is simulated on the basis of a modified Drucker-Prager-Cap material ontology model. A combination of experiments and simulations reveals the crack evolution mechanism during cyclic indentation.