Design and Analysis of Higher Order Exponential Horn Profiles for Ultrasonic Machining

Abstract

AbstractNow-a-days ultrasonic machining (USM) is playing a vital role in machining recently developed very hard and high strength materials that are difficult to machine using other conventional processes. It is important to note that the vibrating/oscillating acoustic horn along with abrasive slurry are responsible for removal of material in USM process, the performance of the process relies largely on the design of the acoustic horn. Therefore, in the present study an attempt is made to design and analyse various shapes, such as exponential, double exponential and triple exponential profiles of the acoustic horns. Further, the performances of the designed acoustic horns have been analysed with the help of finite element method in terms of deformation profile, stress profile, strain and amplitude variation for each of the horn profiles. In the present analysis structural steel is considered as material of the tool for the USM process. Moreover, a new type of horn profile, namely a mixed profile that consists of two exponential and one cylindrical portion has been designed and its performance has been compared with the commercially available horn profiles.