Module: 2

Mechanical Machining Process: Principle and working and applications

of mechanical machining processes such as ultrasonic machining,
water jet cutting. (Lectures 7)
Ultrasonic Machining (USM)
 In ultrasonic machining, ultrasonic waves are produced by means of
magnetostrictive effects which is converted into mechanical vibration.
 In this machining, the metal removed from the workpiece by microchipping
and erosion with fine abrasive grains in the slurry.
 The tool has the same shape as the cavity to be machined.
 It consists of an electromechanical transducer which is connected to an AC
supply.
 The velocity transformer holds the tool firmly.
 An abrasive gun is used to supply an abrasive slurry, which is a mixture of
abrasive grains and the water in between tool and workpiece interface
under a pressure.
 ULTRASONIC MACHINING (USM)
Introduction
 USM is mechanical material removal process or an abrasive process used to erode holes or
cavities on hard or brittle work piece by using shaped tools, high frequency mechanical motion
and an abrasive slurry.
 USM offers a solution to the expanding need for machining brittle materials such as single
crystals, glasses and polycrystalline ceramics and increasing complex operations to provide
intricate shapes and workpiece profiles.
 It is therefore used extensively in machining hard and brittle materials that are difficult to
machine by traditional manufacturing processes.
 Ultrasonic Machining is a nontraditional process, in which abrasives contained in a slurry are
driven against the work by a tool oscillating at low amplitude (25-100 μm) and high
frequency (15-30 KHz):
 The process was first developed in 1950s and was originally used for finishing EDM surfaces.
The basic process is that a ductile and tough tool is pushed against the work with a constant
force.
 A constant stream of abrasive slurry passes between the tool and the work (gap is 25-40 μm)
to provide abrasives and carry away chips.
 ULTRASONIC MACHINING (USM)
Introduction cont’d….
 The majority of the cutting action comes from an ultrasonic (cyclic) force applied.
 During indentation, due to Hertzian contact stresses, cracks would develop just below the contact site,
then as indentation progresses the cracks would propagate due to increase in stress and ultimately lead to
brittle fracture of the work material under each individual interaction site between the abrasive grits and
the workpiece.
 The tool material should be such that indentation by the abrasive grits does not lead to brittle failure.
 Thus, the tools are made of tough, strong and ductile materials like steel, stainless steel and other ductile
metallic alloys.
 The basic mechanical structure of an USM is very similar to a drill press. However, it has additional
features to carry out USM of brittle work material.
 The workpiece is mounted on a vice, which can be located at the desired position under the tool using a
2-axis table.
 The table can further be lowered or raised to accommodate work of different thickness.
TRANSDUCER: A device which is used to convert one form of energy in to another form of energy.
Types - Magnetostrictive transducer and piezoelectric transducer. Magnetostrictive transducers are
most popular and robust amongst all Machining of tapered or stepped horn is much easier as
compared to the exponential one.

Magnetostrictive transducer
Advantages – Magnetostrictive Transducer
1. Production cost is low
2. Very simple design
3. At low ultrasonic frequencies, large power output is possible without any
damage to the oscillatory circuit.

Dis-advantages – Magnetostrictive Transducer

4. It can not produce uitrasonic waves of frequency above 3000kHz.
5. The frequency of oscillation depends upon the temperature. So it is not possible
to get a constant single frequency.
6. There will be losses of energy due to hysteresis and eddy current.
TOOL FEED MECHANISM
The feed mechanism of an ultrasonic machine must perform the following functions:
1. Bring the tool slowly to the work piece to prevent breaking.
2. The tool must provide adequate cutting force and sustain it during the machining operation.
3. The cutting force must be decreased when the specified depth is reached.
4. Overrun a small distance to ensure the required hole size at the exit.
5. The tool has to come back to its initial position after machining is done.
Types
There are four types of feed mechanism which are commonly used in USM:
1. Gravity feed mechanism
2. Spring loaded feed mechanism
3. Pneumatic or hydraulic feed mechanism
4. Motor controlled feed mechanism.
Process parameters
Amplitude:
When the amplitude of vibration is increased, the mrr is expected to increase. The
actual nature of the variation is as shown in Fig. for different values of the
frequency. Again, the actual characteristic is somewhat different from the
theoretically-predicted one.
Frequency:
The mrr increases linearly with the frequency. In practice also, the mrr increases
with the frequency, but the actual characteristic is not exactly linear. The mrr
tends to be somewhat lower than the theoretically-predicted value.
Grain Size:
Relation indicates that the mrr should rise proportionately with the mean grain
diameter d. However, when d becomes too large and approaches the magnitude
of the amplitude A, the crushing tendency increases, resulting in a fall in the mrr
as shown in Fig.
Concentration of Abrasive in the Slurry: Since the concentration directly controls the
number of grains producing impact per cycle and also the magnitude of each impact, the mrr is
expected to depend on C. But relation shows that the mrr is expected to be proportional to C1/4.
The actual variation is shown in Fig. for B4C and SiC abrasives. This is in a fairly good agreement
with the theoretical prediction. Since the mrr increases as C1/4, the increase in the mrr is quite
low after C has crossed 30%. Thus, a further increase in the concentration does not help.
Static Loading (Feed Force):
With an increase in static loading (i.e., the feed force), the mrr tends to increase. However, in
practice, it tends to decrease beyond a certain critical value of the force as the grains start
getting crushed. The nature of variation of the mrr with the feed force (for various amplitudes) is
shown in Fig.
Hardness Ratio of the Tool and the Work Piece:
The ratio of the work piece hardness and the tool hardness affects the mrr quite
significantly, and the characteristic is as shown in Fig. Apart from the hardness, the
brittleness of the work material plays a very dominant role. A more brittle material is
machined more rapidly.
Viscosity:
Some physical properties (e.g., viscosity) of the fluid used for the slurry also
affect the mrr. Experiments show that the mrr drops as the viscosity increases.
Surface Finish:
 Though the mrr is a very important
consideration for judging performance of an
USM operation, the quality of finish obtained
has also to be considered for a proper
evaluation.
 The surface finish depends mainly on the size
of the abrasive grains. Figure shows a typical
variation of the mean value of the surface
unevenness with the mean grain size for both
glass and tungsten carbide as the work
material.
 It is clear that the surface finish is much more
sensitive to the grain size in the case of glass.
This is because of the fact that, for a high
hardness, the size of the fragments dislodged
through a brittle fracture does not depend
much on the size of the impacting particles.
Effects of USM on Materials Properties:
 Since the cutting force involved is very small, the process produces no
appreciable stress and heating. So, the material structure remains
unaffected.
 However, during cutting through a hole, chipping may occur at the exit
side of the hole.
 To avoid this, the work piece made of a brittle material is fastened to a base
usually made of glass.

Limitations of Ultrasonic Machining (USM):

 Under ideal conditions, penetration rates of 5 mm3/min can be obtained.
Power units are usually 530—1000 watt output.
 Specific material removal rate on brittle materials is 0.018 mm3/Joule.
 Normal hole tolerances are 25 µm and surface finish is 0.5 to 0.7 µm.
Advantages of Ultrasonic Machining
1. Workpiece after machining is free from any stress.
2. Extremely hard and brittle materials can be easily machined.
3. Good accuracy and surface finish can be obtained.
4. Operational cost is low.
5. The process is environmentally friendly as it is noiseless without any chemical reactions and heating.
6. This process is economical.
7. Better efficiency can be obtained.
8. It is suitable for both conducting and non-conducting materials.
Disadvantages of Ultrasonic Machinng
9. In this, the metal removal rate is low and cannot be used for large machining cavities.
10. Initial cost and cost of the tool is very high, frequently tool replacement is required as the tool wear
takes place in operation.
11. Not for soft and ductile material due to their ductility.
12. Power consumption is quite high.
13. The slurry may have to be replaced frequently.
14. The tool life is low.
 Ultrasonic Welding (USW) .
• Two components are held together, and oscillatory shear stresses of
ultrasonic frequency are applied to interface to cause coalescence
• Oscillatory motion breaks down any surface films to allow intimate
contact and strong metallurgical bonding between surfaces
• No filler metals, fluxes, or shielding gases required.
• Generally limited to lap joints on soft materials wire terminations and
splicing in electrical and electronics industry.
• Assembly of aluminum sheet metal panels.
• Welding of tubes to sheets in solar panels.
• Assembly of small parts in automotive industry.

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 Ultrasonic Welding (USW) .
10-75 kHz,
.3 to .5 Tm,
65-100% joint strength,
.005 sec to 1 sec joining
time for thin wires to
thick sections.

Fig: USW general setup for a lap joint

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 Ultrasonic Welding (USW) .

Fig: USW close‑up of weld

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