Lapping and polishing equipment

Location: Building 7 room 2023

The nCATS facility is equipped with two lapping and polishing machines:

• Kemet 15 lapping machine, used to produce flat surfaces with a controlled surface roughness. It is typically employed prior to tribological testing or corrosion experiments
• MetPrep Saphir 520 polishing machine, an automated polishing system capable of processing up to five hot- or cold-mounted samples with diameters of 30, 32, or 40 millimetre (mm).
   

Kemet 15 Lapping machine

The Kemet 15 is a lapping machine that uses iron and copper composite discs to embed diamond abrasives. Diamond suspensions of varying particle sizes are applied for planarisation, lapping, and subsequent polishing of samples prior to testing, ensuring that sample surfaces are flat and achieve the required level of surface roughness.

Planarisation is essential for tribological testing, as deviations from flatness can produce unintended localised contact pressures. These pressures may exceed the intended test conditions and, in some cases, push the tribological pair into destructive adhesive modes.

MetPrep Saphir 520 Polishing machine

The SAPHIR 520 is a single wheel grinding and polishing system equipped with a top mounted Rubin 500 head, suitable for working wheels with diameters of 200 to 250 mm. Operational parameters including sequence time, down-pressure, speed control, rotational direction, pneumatic lowering, and single or central pressure modes are fully programmable.

The system can process up to 5 samples simultaneously, accommodating diameters of 30, 32, or 40 mm. A magnetic base supports most commercially available 8‑inch (200 mm) discs.

The water supply is manually controlled. An extendable rinsing tap allows the basin to be cleaned using the hose extension, while lateral adjustment of the tap across the working wheel diameter enables optimal water distribution.

Programmable features:

• duration
• load
• rotation speed
• diamond or water lubrication
• singular or central loaded
• clockwise and anti-clockwise head rotation