Ice-templated porous vitrified-bonded diamond grinding wheels: Pore structure regulation and grinding performance on SiC wafers

The fabrication of high-performance SiC power devices imposes stringent requirements on low-damage and high-consistency wafer thinning processes. To address challenges associated with ultrafine abrasive dispersion and pore structure regulation in vitrified-bonded diamond grinding wheels, the present study proposed an ice-templating method to fabricate diamond grinding wheels with aligned porous structures. Effects of solid loading and glycerol content on microstructure, mechanical properties, and grinding performance of the wheels were systematically investigated. Results showed that glycerol regulated ice crystal morphology, transforming pore structure from lamellar to interconnected “bead-like” form while significantly enhancing flexural strength. Increasing solid loading reduced lamellar spacing and improved both density and strength. Grinding wheel prepared with solid loading of 60 wt% and 5 wt% glycerol exhibited excellent grinding performance on SiC wafers. It achieved surface roughness ( R a = 2.23 nm) significantly lower than that of conventionally cold-pressed wheel ( R a = 3.42 nm), while maintaining uniform surface free of obvious damage. Moreover, the subsurface damage layer thickness was reduced to 105.6 nm compared to 198.5 nm for the conventional wheel. The present study demonstrated that ice-templating method enabled simultaneous uniform dispersion of abrasives and controlled pore structure, thereby providing efficient tool solution for precision grinding of hard and brittle materials such as SiC.