Ultrasonic Vibration Amplitude Research Articles

Numerical and experimental studies on needle impact characteristics in ultrasonic shot peening

Ultrasonic shot peening(USP) is an advanced surface treatment technology for obtaining excellent surface properties or manufacturing a three-dimensional curved surface of the metal sheets. The impact of the medium driven by ultrasonic vibration is significant to parameter optimization and excellent performance of the USP technology. However, the impact characteristics of the medium lack careful study, which is a complex dynamic analysis involving many factors, such as collision, plastic deformation, air pressure, etc. In this paper, a detection system is successfully developed to investigate the needle impact force and frequency against the material surface, consisting of a piezoelectric load sensor, oscilloscope, and a single needle USP device. Moreover, the FE model of the needle impact is developed simultaneously to study the characteristics of residual stress implantation induced by needle impact. Based on the experiment and FE simulation results, it is discovered that the impacts with high speed primarily determine the thickness of the modified layer implanted with residual stress during multiple impacts at different rates. According to residual stress implantation characteristics, the low-speed impact whose speed does not reach 50% of the maximum impact speed was defined as the ineffective impact. Besides, increasing the amplitude of ultrasonic vibration results in a significant increase in the maximum impact force and the effective impact frequency. The travel distance of needle impact has a considerable effect on the effective impact frequency, but it has little effect on the maximum impact force. Finally, it was concluded that the low air pressure plays a positive role in the needle impact. Furthermore, excessive air pressure hinders the needle impact and results in a decline in the effective impact frequency and the maximum impact force.

Grindability study of hard to cut AISI D2 steel upon ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding

Ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding is a sustainable hybrid manufacturing technology that decreases the negative environmental impact of coolant, reduces manufacturing costs, and improves surface integrity. The present investigation analyses the mechanisms associated with ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding of AISI D2 tool steel with an alumina grinding wheel. It also compares the influence of traditional dry grinding and traditional wet grinding modes with the ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding mode at different ultrasonic vibration amplitudes. Ultrasonic vibration was applied to the sample in the longitudinal feed direction. Further, kinematics of the abrasive grit path during the traditional grinding and ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding is presented schematically. In this research, the impacts of ultrasonic vibration amplitude as well as the depth of cut on the process yields such as ground surface topography, grinding force, specific grinding energy, force ratio, surface finish, microstructure, and hardness were investigated experimentally. Experimental results revealed that the highest decline in tangential and normal grinding forces in ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding at ultrasonic vibration amplitude 10 µm and the reduction in surface roughness parameter ( Ra, Rq, and Rz) in ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding was 43.23%, 42.59%, and 33.69%, respectively, in comparison to those in traditional dry grinding and 26.35%, 26.94%, and 27.48%, respectively, in comparison to those in traditional wet grinding. It was observed that ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding is beneficial as the profile produced by ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding has a comparatively flat tip, and profile points are shifted to the bottom of the mean line. This study is expected to assist ultrasonic vibration-assisted dry grinding of hard materials.

A normal force model for ultrasonic vibration-assisted inner-diameter slicing of hard and brittle materials

Ultrasonic vibration-assisted inner-diameter (ID) sawing (UVAIDS) has been proved as an effective slicing process for mono-crystalline silicon in improving the surface quality of wafers. The sawing force is regarded as one of the most critical refers to evaluate the sawing performance. Modeling sawing force is significantly helpful to understand the influence of sawing variables on the sawing process. Currently, there is no publication on the sawing force model for the UVAIDS of hard and brittle materials. This investigation presents a mechanistic model for the normal force in the one-dimensional ultrasonic vibration-assisted ID sawing hard and brittle materials. Based on brittle fracture mode in material removal mechanism, the sawing force model is developed beginning from the analysis of a single diamond abrasive grain. A series of experiments on sawing mono-crystalline silicon are performed to verify this model. The experimental results show that the measured sawing forces agree with the theoretical sawing forces calculated by this model. Besides, the influence of sawing variables including ultrasonic vibration amplitude, feed rate, spindle speed, cutting-edge thickness, abrasive size, dimensions of the saw blade, and workpiece on the sawing force are also analyzed and discussed. This mechanistic model can be used to predict the normal force in the UVAIDS of hard and brittle materials.

Defect suppression mechanism and experimental study on longitudinal torsional coupled rotary ultrasonic assisted drilling of CFRPs

Longitudinal torsional coupled rotary ultrasonic assisted drilling (LTC-RUAD) technology is introduced to improve the surface roughness of the hole wall and solve the tear, burr and delamination of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) induced by large thrust force and torque during conventional drilling (CD) in this study. First, the defect suppression mechanism of CFRPs hole was proposed via the analysis of the types and forming mechanism of CFRPs hole defects using a tapered drill-reamer (TDR) in CD and the characteristics of LTC-RUAD. Then, the corresponding drilling experimental platform was built based on the novel designed LTC-RUAD vibration actuator, while drilling experiments involving T700S-12K/YP-H26 CFRPs specimens with different process parameters were performed by adopting the different ultrasonic vibration amplitude (UVA) in the longitudinal and torsional direction. The thrust force and torque, quality of the hole wall and holed defects obtained in both CD and LTC-RUAD were compared at the same process parameter. The experimental results show that compared with CD, the maximum average thrust force and torque can be reduced by approximately 30% and 40%, respectively. The surface roughness, defects at the exit of the drilled hole show a “concave” trend with the increase of UVA, and the burr factor, tear factor and delamination factor are reduced by 62.56%, 76.6%, 69.67% when the longitudinal UVA is approximately 7–9 μm, respectively. The forming mechanism of hole defects in CD and the defect suppression mechanism of CFRPs hole in LTC-RUAD are verified to be correct.

On the material removal mechanism in rotary ultrasonic milling of ultralow-density silica aerogel composites

Silica aerogel composite with ultralow density is a kind of highly porous solid with excellent property of thermal conductivity. It is widely used for thermal insulation in aerospace, national defense and military industries. However, silica aerogel composites are difficult to process, due to the poor mechanical properties, low strength and high brittleness. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the processing characteristics and material removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. In this article, a cutting model of silica aerogel composites is established firstly and the fracture mechanism of fiber was analyzed. Then the ultrasonic milling and conventional milling experiments were performed respectively to obtain the features of machined surface. Macro morphology and surface roughness of machined surfaces in different process conditions are compared to investigate the influence of different process conditions on the processing quality. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to obtain the micro morphology of processed surfaces. By comparing and analyzing the micro morphology of processed surfaces, the influence of process conditions on removal mechanism was investigated. The theoretical cutting force and experiment cutting force is compared to verify the cutting model. The results show that the burrs and pits decrease with the ultrasonic vibration amplitude, and increase with the tool diameter. Processing quality of up-milling is better than down-milling. It is indicated that shearing and pulling off are the main removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. When the silica aerogel composites are processed by rotary ultrasonic milling and up milling, the fibers will be mainly removed by shearing mechanism and the proportion of fibers removed by shearing facture mechanism will be improved with the increase of ultrasonic amplitude.

Use of the toolholder with the oriented stiffness for ultrasonic turning

An effective way of processing difficult-to-machine materials is ultrasonic cutting, which is carried out by applying ultrasonic vibrations to the movement of the cutter and contributes to a significant reduction in cutting force and increase processing productivity. The article presents the results of research on the efficiency of using a new device for ultrasonic cutting with an electrostrictive vibrating drive. The source of ultrasonic vibrations is an electrostrictive vibratory drive, which provides oscillations in the range of 10 - 20 kHz with amplitude of 10 - 15 microns. Experimental studies have confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed design of the toolholder to transmit the wave of ultrasonic vibrations almost perpendicular to the axis of the vibratory drive, which allows you to unload the vibrating drive from the cutting force and use vibration pulses only to deform elastic elements by the amplitude of ultrasonic vibrations. The device provides conditions for processing of difficult-to-process materials, allows increasing accuracy of processing of details, to reduce roughness of the processed surfaces and to increase productivity of processing.

Mechanism and Experiment Study of Non-Contact Ultrasonic Assisted Grinding

Ultrasonic-assisted grinding processing can effectively reduce the surface roughness and enhance the processing efficiency in the processing of hard and brittle materials. However, the most common ultrasonic assisted grinding is a type of contact ultrasonic grinding where the grinding tool directly contacts the workpiece, which means that it is necessary to accurately control the pre-pressure of the grinding tool on the workpiece. The control of pre-pressure will inevitably increase the complexity of the grinding device, and it is easy to wear the workpiece because of improper pre-pressure control. In this paper, a non-contact ultrasonic grinding method is proposed and the machining mechanism of non-contact ultrasonic grinding is revealed. The resonant frequency of the ultrasonic vibration system and vibration amplitude of the grinding tool working face were simulated and experimentally tested, respectively. Then, the experiment of non-contact ultrasonic grinding of a sapphire wafer was carried out. The result showed that non-contact ultrasonic grinding of the sapphire wafer could reduce the surface roughness by 48.6%. Compared with traditional contact grinding of sapphire wafer under certain pre-pressure conditions, the experimental results show that non-contact ultrasonic grinding has better effects in reducing surface roughness, improving processing efficiency, and improving the quality uniformity of the workpiece machining surface.

An Investigation of Ultrasonic-Assisted Electrochemical Machining of Micro-Hole Array

This paper uses an ultrasonic vibration-integrated array electrode for 301 stainless steel micro-hole drilling. The influence of machining parameters such as ultrasonic vibration amplitude, working voltage, pulse-off time and electrode feed rate on different processing characteristics are discussed. The experimental results show that the ultrasonic-assisted electrode array vibrating generates a periodic pressure difference for the electrolyte. The periodic pressure difference forms a pumping effect and a cavitation effect. The two effects can effectively renew the electrolyte in the machining gap and discharge the reaction product, gas and reaction heat from the gap. Machining speed can be increased by over 500% when the ultrasonic amplitude increases from 0.94 μm to 2.87 μm. Micro-hole drilling with the optimum experimental parameter combination of ultrasonic amplitude 2.87 μm, working voltage 11 V, pulse-off time 50 μs and electrode feed rate 5 μm/s can result in a minimum average diagonal length and a smaller amount of variation in diagonal length. It also improves the inlet and outlet taper angle of micro-holes.

P-061. Successful vaginal delivery in pregnant women with preeclampsia undergoing labor induction with Prostaglandin

Silica aerogel composite with ultralow density is a kind of highly porous solid with excellent property of thermal conductivity. It is widely used for thermal insulation in aerospace, national defense and military industries. However, silica aerogel composites are difficult to process, due to the poor mechanical properties, low strength and high brittleness. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the processing characteristics and material removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. In this article, a cutting model of silica aerogel composites is established firstly and the fracture mechanism of fiber was analyzed. Then the ultrasonic milling and conventional milling experiments were performed respectively to obtain the features of machined surface. Macro morphology and surface roughness of machined surfaces in different process conditions are compared to investigate the influence of different process conditions on the processing quality. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to obtain the micro morphology of processed surfaces. By comparing and analyzing the micro morphology of processed surfaces, the influence of process conditions on removal mechanism was investigated. The theoretical cutting force and experiment cutting force is compared to verify the cutting model. The results show that the burrs and pits decrease with the ultrasonic vibration amplitude, and increase with the tool diameter. Processing quality of up-milling is better than down-milling. It is indicated that shearing and pulling off are the main removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. When the silica aerogel composites are processed by rotary ultrasonic milling and up milling, the fibers will be mainly removed by shearing mechanism and the proportion of fibers removed by shearing facture mechanism will be improved with the increase of ultrasonic amplitude.

SY5-2. Simplified prediction criteria and management of preeclampsia for LMIC

Silica aerogel composite with ultralow density is a kind of highly porous solid with excellent property of thermal conductivity. It is widely used for thermal insulation in aerospace, national defense and military industries. However, silica aerogel composites are difficult to process, due to the poor mechanical properties, low strength and high brittleness. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the processing characteristics and material removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. In this article, a cutting model of silica aerogel composites is established firstly and the fracture mechanism of fiber was analyzed. Then the ultrasonic milling and conventional milling experiments were performed respectively to obtain the features of machined surface. Macro morphology and surface roughness of machined surfaces in different process conditions are compared to investigate the influence of different process conditions on the processing quality. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to obtain the micro morphology of processed surfaces. By comparing and analyzing the micro morphology of processed surfaces, the influence of process conditions on removal mechanism was investigated. The theoretical cutting force and experiment cutting force is compared to verify the cutting model. The results show that the burrs and pits decrease with the ultrasonic vibration amplitude, and increase with the tool diameter. Processing quality of up-milling is better than down-milling. It is indicated that shearing and pulling off are the main removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. When the silica aerogel composites are processed by rotary ultrasonic milling and up milling, the fibers will be mainly removed by shearing mechanism and the proportion of fibers removed by shearing facture mechanism will be improved with the increase of ultrasonic amplitude.

P-057. Preeclampsia prediction based on urine peptidome study

Silica aerogel composite with ultralow density is a kind of highly porous solid with excellent property of thermal conductivity. It is widely used for thermal insulation in aerospace, national defense and military industries. However, silica aerogel composites are difficult to process, due to the poor mechanical properties, low strength and high brittleness. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the processing characteristics and material removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. In this article, a cutting model of silica aerogel composites is established firstly and the fracture mechanism of fiber was analyzed. Then the ultrasonic milling and conventional milling experiments were performed respectively to obtain the features of machined surface. Macro morphology and surface roughness of machined surfaces in different process conditions are compared to investigate the influence of different process conditions on the processing quality. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to obtain the micro morphology of processed surfaces. By comparing and analyzing the micro morphology of processed surfaces, the influence of process conditions on removal mechanism was investigated. The theoretical cutting force and experiment cutting force is compared to verify the cutting model. The results show that the burrs and pits decrease with the ultrasonic vibration amplitude, and increase with the tool diameter. Processing quality of up-milling is better than down-milling. It is indicated that shearing and pulling off are the main removal mechanism of silica aerogel composites. When the silica aerogel composites are processed by rotary ultrasonic milling and up milling, the fibers will be mainly removed by shearing mechanism and the proportion of fibers removed by shearing facture mechanism will be improved with the increase of ultrasonic amplitude.

Crack Forms Sensitivity-Based Prediction on Subsurface Cracks Depth in Ultrasonic-Vibration-Assisted Grinding of Optical Glasses

Subsurface cracks in ultrasonic-vibration-assisted grinding (UVAG) of optical glasses often exhibit diverse forms and proportions. Due to the variety of loads involved in crack formation and propagation, the crack forms and propagation depths have different sensitivities to each process parameter. Predicting the maximum subsurface cracks depth (MSSCD) by considering the varying effects of process parameters plays a key role in implementing effective control of the UVAG process. In this work, the subsurface crack forms and their proportions are investigated by conducting 40 sets of UVAG experiments. The varying effects of the grinding and ultrasonic parameters on the crack form proportions are unveiled by using grey relational analysis. The weighted least square support vector machine (WLS-SVM) prediction model for the MSSCD was developed. Twelve sets of UVAG experiments were carried out to validate the proposed model. The results show that arc-shaped cracks and bifurcated cracks account for 72.5% of all cracks, while ultrasonic vibration amplitude influences most of the proportions of arc-shaped and bifurcated cracks. Compared to other widely used prediction methods, the maximum and average relative prediction errors of the proposed model are 10.54% and 5.59%, respectively, which proves the high prediction accuracy of the model.

Generation mechanism modeling of surface topography in tangential ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding with green silicon carbide abrasive wheel

Tangential ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding (TUAG) has a wide prospect in machining difficult-to-machine materials. However, the surface generation mechanism in TUAG is not fully recovered. This study proposes an analytical model of the surface topography produced by TUAG. Based on the model, the surface topography and roughness are predicted and experimentally verified. In addition, the influence of the grinding parameters on the surface topography is analyzed. The predicted surface topography well coincides with experimental measurements, and the prediction error in surface roughness Ra by the proposed model is less than 5%. Compared with conventional grinding, TUAG produces a surface with more uniform scratches and surface roughness Ra was reduced by up to 27% with the proper parameters. However, the improvement of surface roughness in TUAG is weakened when grinding speed or depth of cut increases. Moreover, the influence of the ultrasonic vibration amplitude on the surface roughness is not monotonous. With the grinding parameters selected in this study, TUAG with an ultrasonic amplitude of 7.5 μm produces the minimum surface roughness.

A lens ultrasonic vibration-assisted laser machining system for laser polishing and laser drilling of 304 stainless steel

This paper proposes a novel lens ultrasonic vibration-assisted laser machining device which applies the ultrasonic vibration to the lens, thereby enhancing the quality of laser processing and retaining the flexibility of laser processing. The general analytical expression of the hollow ultrasonic transducer is derived by exploiting the electromechanical equivalent circuit and the four-terminal network methods. The finite element analysis method is used to optimize the design results, and the resonant frequency and ultrasonic vibration amplitude of the prototype are calibrated using testing equipment. The results show that the vibration form of the device at the mode of 23 meets the designed requirements, and the resonance frequency is 29703 Hz. Under the condition of 30000 Hz, the device reaches the maximum amplitude of 30 μm on the end face of the lens, and the corresponding input voltage is 346 V. The processing mechanism for lens ultrasonic vibration-assisted laser machining is proposed based on this study, which changes the laser energy density on the workpiece by adjusting the diameter of the spot. Furthermore, the initial experiment validation of the device shows that the ultrasonic vibration of the lens is attracting significant interest for improving the surface quality of laser polishing and reducing the taper angle of laser drilling, which is mainly caused by the change of laser energy density.

The influence of ultrasonic vibration amplitude and magnetic field intensity on microstructural characteristics in laser drilling of Ti6Al4V

Nowadays, laser drilling has found extensive medical applications such as drilling of titanium implants. However, laser drilling of such implants has encountered several restrictions such as low penetration depth, high thickness of recast layer and heat affected zone (HAZ). Therefore, various approaches such as magnetic field and/or ultrasonic vibration aided laser drilling have been proposed to overcome these limitations; among them, few studies have been conducted considering the simultaneous effect of magnetic field and ultrasonic vibrations on microstructural characteristics. Therefore, in the present paper, the effects of magnetic field intensity and ultrasonic vibration amplitude (with a frequency of 28 kHz) have been investigated on the formed phases, thickness of recast layer and thickness of HAZ in laser drilling of Ti6Al4V. According to the obtained results, adding ultrasonic vibrations to the laser drilling process will lead to an average decrease of 29.40% and 28% respectively for the thickness of HAZ and recast layer. However, with the addition of a magnetic field (0.1 Tesla), the thicknesses of HAZ and recast layer were increased by 7% and 11%, respectively. Furthermore, increasing the ultrasonic vibration amplitude was associated with the increase in the acicular alpha phase (α′) as well as more dense, and fine-grained and uniform structure. This can be attributed to the strengthening of convective heat transfer mechanism and higher cooling rate. Additionally, by increasing the intensity of the magnetic field, the structure of the acicular alpha (α′) became finer and the density of lateral branches decreased.

Identification of the Effect of Ultrasonic Friction Reduction in Metal-Elastomer Contacts Using a Two-Control-Loop Tribometer

Pneumatic cylinders are widely used in highly dynamic processes, such as handling and conveying tasks. They must work both reliably and accurately. The positioning accuracy suffers from the stick-slip effect due to strong adhesive forces during the seal contact and the associated high breakaway forces. To achieve smooth motion of the piston rod and increased position accuracy despite highly variable position dynamics, sliding friction and breakaway force must be reduced. This contribution presents a specially designed linear tribometer that has two types of control. Velocity control allows the investigation of sliding friction mechanisms. Friction force control allows investigation of the breakaway force. Due to its bearing type, the nearly disturbance-free detection of stick-slip transients and the dynamic contact behavior of the sliding friction force was possible. The reduction of the friction force was achieved by a superposition of the piston rod’s movement by longitudinal ultrasonic vibrations. This led to significant reductions in friction forces at the rubber/metal interface. In addition, the effects of ultrasonic frequency and vibration amplitude on the friction reduction were investigated. With regard to the breakaway force, significant success was achieved by the excitation. The force control made it possible to identify the characteristic movement of the sealing ring during a breakaway process.

Microstructural influence on damage-induced zirconia surface asperities produced by conventional and ultrasonic vibration-assisted diamond machining

Zirconia surface asperities associated with machining-induced damage and deformation jeopardize the quality of zirconia products. Conventional and emerging ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining processes are used to shape zirconia materials. However, a deep understanding of how zirconia microstructures and ultrasonic vibration amplitudes affect material removal mechanisms and surface quality in these processes is missing, rendering the proper mechanical process selection challenging. This paper reports on the 3D characterization of damage-induced surface asperities and the investigation of material removal mechanisms of pre-sintered porous and sintered dense zirconia materials in conventional and ultrasonic vibration-assisted diamond machining processes. 3D white light profilometry was used to measure surface asperities in terms of texture parameters, together with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for imaging damage and deformation morphologies. The results show that removal mechanisms and damage-induced zirconia surface asperities depended on material microstructures and ultrasonic vibration amplitudes. Both porous and dense zirconia materials had a brittle-ductile mixed removal mode in conventional and ultrasonic vibration-assisted diamond machining processes. However, brittle fracture was dominant for the porous state and ductile deformation was presiding for the dense state. Thus, there were significantly higher fracture damage area ratios with much higher average and maximum roughness values, and maximum peak and valley heights on machined porous surfaces than dense ones. Ultrasonic assistance at an optimal vibration amplitude promoted brittle-ductile transitions on both porous and dense zirconia surfaces, resulting in reduced brittle fracture damage areas with reduced surface asperities. This microstructure-process-surface quality relation provides insights into manufacturing processes for zirconia products.

Analysis on ground surface in ultrasonic face grinding of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic with minor vibration amplitude

Compared to conventional grinding, ultrasonic face grinding of SiC ceramic with vibration amplitude more than 3 μm has been proved to improve the machining efficiency but usually face the problem of reducing the workpiece surface quality. The material removal mechanism and ground surface quality by ultrasonic face grinding using minor vibration amplitude (less than 1 μm) still remains uncertain and needs to be further investigated. In the present work, experiments of ultrasonic face grinding of SiC ceramic are carried out to study the influence of processing parameters (e.g. depth of cut, wheel speed and ultrasonic vibration amplitude) on the surface finish. The results show that both the grinding forces and ground surface roughness increase significantly with the increase of depth of cut and the decrease of wheel speed. However, with the increase of ultrasonic vibration amplitude, the grinding forces decrease rapidly first and then keep steady, and the ground surface roughness shows three variation stages: dropping, climbing and stabilizing, which achieves the smallest value of 0.04 μm at the amplitude of 0.216 μm. From the analysis of acquired workpiece surface morphology and image processing result, the proportion of chunks and pits on the workpiece surface is reduced due to ductile removal in case of ultrasonic vibration amplitude less than 0.2 μm, but increases when the amplitude is more than 0.2 μm because the material is removed in brittle domain. Finally, a sample machined at relatively high wheel speed and minor vibration amplitude is provided to support the findings. The proposed investigation provides a new approach to achieve mirror surface of SiC ceramic using ultrasonic face grinding.

The Effect of Torsional Vibration in Longitudinal-Torsional Coupled Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Grinding of Silicon Carbide Ceramics.

Rotary longitudinal–torsional coupled ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding (LTUAG) is a new manufacturing method that can improve the grinding ability of silicon carbide ceramics. However, compared with longitudinal ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding (LUAG), the role of torsional vibration in the grinding process is unclear. In this study, an effective method for measuring longitudinal–torsional coupled ultrasonic vibration amplitude and an experimental setup for measuring actual amplitude during grinding are proposed. The trajectory of the abrasive grains under the same grinding parameters and the same longitudinal amplitude during LTUAG and LUAG are analysed. Ultrasonic amplitude curves under the condition of tool rotation are then measured and analysed. Finally, the effect of torsional vibration on grinding force and surface roughness under the same grinding conditions is explained. Experimental analysis shows that the introduction of torsional vibration has little effect on the trajectory length and does not change the number of interference overlaps between abrasive grain tracks. Torsional vibration will only increase the cutting speed during grinding and reduce the undeformed chip thickness, which will reduce the grinding force and improve the surface roughness of LTUAG.

Rotary ultrasonic-assisted abrasive flow finishing and its fundamental performance in Al6061 machining

The geometric complexity of 3D-printed parts increases the difficulty of surface finishing with the conventional grinding technique. In this study, a rotary ultrasonic-assisted abrasive flow finishing (RUA-AFF) method is proposed towards improving the performance of the AFF process by providing rotary motion and ultrasonic vibration to the equipment. Finishing experiments are carried out involving Al6061 to investigate the capabilities of the proposed RUA-AFF. The obtained results show that (1) the higher ultrasonic vibration amplitude results in the greatest improvement in the work surface quality and a higher increase in material removal rate (MRR); (2) with the higher ultrasonic frequency and rotational speed, the surface roughness and MRR are decreased marginally; (3) there are two material remove modes in the RUA-AFF process: abrasive impingement and micro-cutting. These indicate that the high efficiency and high-quality finishing of Al6061 can be performed with the proposed RUA-AFF technique.