Abstract
We developed and optimized a block-type ultrasonic horn that can be used for cutting hard materials. The proposed block-type sonotrode consists of an aluminum horn and a tungsten carbide blade to increase the cutting of hard materials. We designed an initial ultrasonic block horn that has double slots and an exponential stepped profile. We developed a finite element model of the initial model and analyzed the characteristics of natural frequency and displacement. We formulated a DOE table and response surface to perform sensitivity analysis and analyze the correlation between the design variables and characteristics of the proposed block horn. The optimal ultrasonic block horn was derived via a multi-objective optimal design problem to maximize the amplitude uniformity of the proposed horn and frequency separation. We fabricated the optimal block horn and verified it experimentally. An ultrasonic cutting experiment was conducted to find the ultrasonic cutting force with hard ceramic composite materials. A cutting test with a conventional cutting machine under the same condition was also conducted to compare the cutting force. The proposed optimal ultrasonic cutter requires 70% less cutting force than the conventional cutter to cut a ceramic composite material and the cutting surface with the application of the proposed optimal ultrasonic cutter is much cleaner with no crack and delamination than that with the application of the conventional cutter.
Highlights
Ultrasonic vibration has been applied to various manufacturing machines such as bonding, welding, drilling, and cutting machines by resonating a tool at ultrasonic frequency to assist in the manufacturing process [1–9]
We developed a finite element model using ANSYS software to analyze the characteristics of the proposed sonotrode model
We proposed a block-type ultrasonic cutting sonotrode that consists of horn and a tungsten carbide blade
Summary
Ultrasonic vibration has been applied to various manufacturing machines such as bonding, welding, drilling, and cutting machines by resonating a tool at ultrasonic frequency to assist in the manufacturing process [1–9]. The main reason is that the block-type ultrasonic horn and blade are made of a single material such as titanium, aluminum, and stainless steel to increase their high wear resistance, high Q-factor and good acoustic characteristics [8]. This monolithic structure with ultrasonic material has lower hardness than tungsten carbide or tool steel, which are commonly used as a tool tip. A cutting test with a conventional cutting machine under the same conditions was conducted to compare the cutting force and the cutting surface
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