Influence of tool material and geometry on micro-textured surface in radial ultrasonic vibration-assisted turning

Abstract

Surface texturing has been widely used to fabricate functional surface, which can improve the friction performance or achieve suitable wettability for different mechanical products. In order to fabricate micro-textured surface in an efficient and cost-effective way, a surface texturing method of radial ultrasonic vibration-assisted turning (RUVT) was proposed. The texturing generation mechanism of RUVT was firstly analyzed through a theoretical model. Then, the influence of tool geometry on micro-texture, including clearance angle and nose radius, was further characterized by a surface topography simulation. The simulated and experimental results show that the clearance angle and nose radius have important effect on the shape and width of micro-dimples of the textured surface, respectively. Compared with a cemented carbide tool, the diamond tool is more preferable to be used to generate well shaped and distributed micro-dimples, because of its sharp cutting edge and less wear during the texturing process. The experimental textured surfaces, fabricated under different clearance angles of 0°, 7° and 20°, also have shown different wetting properties through wettability tests. It is verified that the RUVT can be a cost-effective texturing way for fast generation of micro-dimpled surfaces by choosing appropriate tool parameters.