Distribution of diamond grains in fixed abrasive wire sawing process

For over 20 years, wire sawing has been the primary method used for slicing ingots of silicon, sapphire, and silicon carbide into wafer substrates. Fixed diamond wire sawing has recently emerged as an alternative to slurry wire sawing as a means to shorten the time required for slicing and reduce the usage of slurry. The distribution of diamond grains on the wires strongly influences slicing performance in terms of material removal, surface topography, and subsurface damage. However, few studies have investigated this topic. This study established a model with which to simulate the distribution of diamond grains. Simulation results demonstrate that a higher density distribution reduces the rate of material removal because the loading is shared by the abrasives, thereby preventing the grains from penetrating deeply enough into the workpiece to facilitate the removal of material. Lower distribution density was shown to increase the loadings on the abrasives. These results demonstrate the importance of distribution density of diamond abrasives on the wire with regard to slicing performance.