Bauschinger effect in nano-grinding of 3C-SiC: A molecular dynamics study

XY Zhao and YQ Tang and KY Chen and YK Cai and XL Liang and ZQ Liu and DY Li, WEAR, 571, 205847 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2025.205847

The Bauschinger effect typically occurs in ductile materials and influences their tribological behaviors. However, this phenomenon is rarely reported in brittle materials. The nano-scale plastic deformation observed in brittle materials implies that the Bauschinger effect may also occur during their nano-tribological processes. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations were employed to evaluate the Bauschinger effect in cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) and its effect on nano-grinding of 3C-SiC. The results show that defects generated in 3C-SiC during shear deformation recover upon reversal of the shear direction, and defects near the surface of 3C-SiC workpiece generated during nano- grinding also recover upon reversal of the grinding direction, which validates the hypothesis that the Bauschinger effect may occur in 3C-SiC and could benefit its machinability. The Bauschinger effect during bi- directional grinding could help significantly reduce the damage and roughness to the surface of 3C-SiC and also help lower the machining resistance. Such benefits from the Bauschinger effect are found to be more pronounced at relatively lower temperatures, which makes the machinability of 3C-SiC during the bidirectional grinding at relatively lower temperatures comparable to that during the unidirectional grinding at higher temperatures. Therefore, taking advantage of the Bauschinger effect could help lower the operation temperature for high-quality and high-efficiency grinding of 3C-SiC with reduced defects, roughness, and resistance. This study provides an insight into the nano-tribological behaviors of brittle materials and demonstrates an effective approach for their ultra-precision machining.

Return to Publications page