Surface integrity of Nomex honeycomb composites after ultrasonic vibration machining by using disc cutters

Abstract

Surface integrity has been widely used in metals machining, while the quality of Nomex honeycomb composites (NHCs) is yet troubled in selecting a proper indicator. In this study, surface integrity was introduced to evaluate machined NHCs with a proposed method named mark cell comparison along with other indicators, such as width of white belt, depth of subsurface damage and fractal dimension. The influence of ultrasonic amplitude on surface integrity was analyzed, suggesting an optimal amplitude. Based on the results, the feasibility and necessity to employ a set of quantitative indicators of surface integrity were discussed and demonstrated.