Ultrasonic Machining

ENGINEERING MATERIALS
AND MANUFACURING TECHNOLOGY

‫سعيد مازن سعيد عشا‬

0147566

25/4/2018
Introduction
Machining is the process of shaping a piece of raw material into a final
shape and size which is desired. Machining in general can be separated
into two types conventional machining and non-traditional machining.
Conventional machining is the process where a sharp cutting tool is used
to reach the desired shape by shear deformation, whereas non-
traditional machining is the process of expulsion unneeded materials by
the use of either, electrical, chemical, mechanical, or thermal energy or
a combination of any of them. Non-traditional machining processes
devolved to answer new and unusual machining requirements that could
not be satisfied by conventional methods.
Ultrasonic Machining is a non-traditional method which uses mechanical
energy. Usually the mechanical actions applied in non-traditional
methods are either Erosion of the work material by a high velocity
stream of abrasives or fluid or both.
Mechanisms
Ultrasonic machining is a process in which abrasives contained in a slurry
are moved at high velocity against the work piece by a tool which
vibrates at low amplitude and high frequency. The amplitudes are
around 25.4 μm, and the frequencies are approximately 20 KHz. The tool
oscillates in a direction perpendicular to the work surface, and is fed
slowly into the work piece, so that the shape of the tool is formed in the
part. However, it is the action of the abrasives impacting against the
work surface that performs the cutting. Common tool materials used in
Ultrasonic machining include soft steel and stainless steel. Abrasive
materials in Ultrasonic machining include boron nitride, boron carbide,
aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, and diamond. Grit size ranges between
100 and 2000.
The vibration amplitude should be set approximately equal to the grit
size, and the size of the gap should be maintained at about two times the
size of the grit. To a significant degree, grit size determines the surface
finish on the new work surface. In addition to surface finish, material
removal rate is an important performance variable in ultrasonic
machining. For a given work material, the removal rate in Ultrasonic
machining increases with increasing frequency and amplitude of
vibration. The cutting action in Ultrasonic machining operates on the tool
as well as the work.
As the abrasive particles erode the work surface, they also erode the
tool, thus affecting its shape. It is therefore important to know the
relative volumes of work material and tool material removed during the
process—similar to the grinding ratio. This ratio of stock removed to tool
wear varies for different work materials, ranging from around 100:1 for
cutting glass down to about 1:1 for cutting tool steel. The slurry in
Ultrasonic machining consists of a mixture of water and abrasive
particles. Concentration of abrasives in water ranges from 20% to 60% .
The slurry must be continuously circulated to bring fresh grains into
action at the tool–work gap. It also washes away chips and worn grits
created by the cutting process. The development of ultrasonic machining
was motivated by the need to machine hard, brittle work materials, such
as ceramics, glass, and carbides. It is also successfully used on certain
metals, such as stainless steel and titanium. Shapes acquired by
Ultrasonic machining include non-round holes, holes within a curved
axis, and coining operations, in which a pattern on the tool is printed to
a flat work surface.
Rotary Ultrasonic Machining
In this process, the abrasive slurry is replaced by a tool with metal-
bonded diamond abrasives either impregnated or electroplated on the
tool surface. The tool vibrates ultrasonically and rotates at the same time
while being pressed into the work piece surface with constant pressure.
The process is similar to a face-milling operation, but with the inserts
being replaced by abrasives. The chips produced are washed away by a
coolant that is pumped through the core of the rotating tool. Rotary
ultrasonic machining (RUM) is particularly effective in producing deep
holes and high material-removal rates in ceramic parts.
The basic design guidelines for Ultrasonic Machining include the
following:
• Watch out for sharp profiles, corners, and radii, they are expected
to be eroded by the abrasive slurry.
• Realize that holes produced will have some taper.
• Note that, because of the tendency for the chipping of brittle
materials at the exit end of holes machined, the bottom of the parts
should have a backup plate.
Machine
The basic mechanical structure of an Ultrasonic Machine is very similar
to a drill press. But, it has features that are added to it to carry out
Ultrasonic Machining of brittle work material. The work piece is placed
on a vice, which can be located at a position which is desired under the
tool using a two axis table. The table can be lowered even more or raised
to accept work of different thickness.
The typical elements of an Ultrasonic Machine are:
• Slurry delivery and return system
• Feed mechanism: provides a force which is applied downwardly on
the tool during the process
• The transducer, which generates the vibration
• The horn or concentrator, that using mechanics amplifies the
vibration to the amplitude of 15 – 50 μm and accommodates the
tool at its tip.
The ultrasonic vibrations are created by a transducer which is moved by
an appropriate signal generator followed by a power amplifier. The
transducer for Ultrasonic Machine works on the following principles
• Piezoelectric effect
• Magnetostrictive effect
• Electrostrictive effect
1. Piezoelectric transducer
These transducers create a small electric current when they are
compressed. Additionally, when the electric current passes through a
crystal, it expands. When the current is taken out, the crystal takes back
its original size and its shape. Such kind of transducers are available up
to 900 watts. Piezoelectric crystals have a high conversion efficiency of
about 95%.
2. Magnetostrictive transducer
The magnetostriction effect was first introduced by James Joule in the
late 19th century. According to this effect, in the presence of the applied
magnetic field, ferromagnetic metals and alloys change in length. These
transducers are made of nickel or nickel alloy sheets. Their conversion
efficiency is about 20–30%.
Such transducers are available up to 2000 watts. The maximum change
in length that can be achieved is about 25 microns. Magnetostrictive
transducers are most popular and solid amongst the mentioned
transducers. The horn or concentrator is a wave-guide, which amplifies
and concentrates the vibration to the tool from the transducer. The
different forms of the horn or concentrator are as follows:
• Tapered or conical
• Exponential
• Stepped
It should be considered that the use of the exponential horn, is known to
be more difficult than the other two horns.
Advantages of Ultrasonic machining
• Machining any materials regardless of their conductivity
• Ultrasonic machining apply to machining semi-conductor such as
silicon, germanium etc.
• Can drill holes in a shape of a circle on in very hard materials, or
non-circular shape
• It causes less stress in light of its non-thermal characteristics
• USM does not produce electrical, thermal nor chemo abnormal
surface.
• It is suitable to do precise machining on brittle material.
Disadvantages of Ultrasonic machining
• Ultrasonic machining has low material removal rate.
• Tool wears fast in Ultrasonic machining.
• Machining area and depth is restraint in Ultrasonic machining.
Applications
• Used for machining hard and brittle metallic alloys, semiconductors,
glass, ceramics, carbides etc.
• Used for machining round, square, irregular shaped holes and surface
impressions.
• Used for wire drawing, punching or small blanking dies.
References
Groover, M. (2016). Fundamentals of modern manufacturing. 4th ed.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kalpakjian, S. and Schmid, S. (2008). Manufacturing processes for

engineering materials. 5th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Kibria, G., Bhattacharyya, B. and Davim, J. (2017). Non-traditional
micromachining processes. springer.com.