Optimization of ultrasonic machining for fabricating square holes using the Taguchi methods

Abstract

One of the solutions for making quality molded plastic products is to adopt post-machining to avoid the warpage problem. Considering many traditional and non-traditional machining techniques, we have suggested that ultrasonic machining may be suitable for fabricating square holes in plastics. Because many factors are involved in ultrasonic machining, the objective of this research was to find the optimal conditions for ultrasonic machining by the Taguchi methods. The plastic material utilized in the study was PMMA, and there were two quality characteristics adopted for the experiment. One was the area deviation percentage (ADP) of square holes created by ultrasonic machining, and the other was the average thrust force during the machining process. Four factors, which were tool material, tool type, abrasive, and feed rate were considered in the experiment. The optimal conditions for ultrasonic machining to minimize ADPs and to reduce the average thrust force, respectively, are reported in the paper. These conditions can be applied to machine PMMA using ultrasonic machining in future applications.