Rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM) has been investigated in machining of brittle, ductile, as well as composite materials. Ultrasonic vibration amplitude, as one of the most important input variables, affects almost all the output variables in RUM. Numerous investigations on measuring ultrasonic vibration amplitude without RUM machining have been reported. In recent years, ultrasonic vibration amplitude measurement with RUM of ductile materials has been investigated. It is found that the ultrasonic vibration amplitude with RUM was different from that without RUM under the same input variables. RUM is primarily used in machining of brittle materials through brittle fracture removal. With this reason, the method for measuring ultrasonic vibration amplitude in RUM of ductile materials is not feasible for measuring that in RUM of brittle materials. However, there are no reported methods for measuring ultrasonic vibration amplitude in RUM of brittle materials. In this study, ultrasonic vibration amplitude in RUM of brittle materials is investigated by establishing a mechanistic amplitude model through cutting force. Pilot experiments are conducted to validate the calculation model. The results show that there are no significant differences between amplitude values calculated by model and those obtained from experimental investigations. The model can provide a relationship between ultrasonic vibration amplitude and input variables, which is a foundation for building models to predict other output variables in RUM.

Purpose Additively manufactured objects have layered structures, which means post processing is often required to achieve a desired surface finish. Furthermore, the additive nature of the process makes it less accurate than subtractive processes. Hence, additive manufacturing techniques could tremendously benefit from finishing processes to improve their geometric tolerance and surface finish. Design/methodology/approach Rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM) was chosen as a finishing operation for drilling additively manufactured carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Two distinct additive manufacturing methods of fused deposition modeling (FDM) and laser-assisted laminated object manufacturing (LA-LOM) were used to fabricate CFRP plates with continuous carbon fiber reinforcement. The influence of the feedrate, tool rotation speed and ultrasonic power of the RUM process parameters on the aforementioned quality characteristics revealed the feasibility of RUM process as a finishing operation for additive manufactured CFRP. Findings The quality of drilled holes in the CFRP plates fabricated via LA-LOM was supremely superior to the FDM counterparts with less pullout delamination, smoother surface and less burr formation. The strong interfacial bonding in LA-LOM proven to be superior to FDM was able to endure higher cutting force of the RUM process. The cutting force and cutting temperature overwhelmed the FDM parts and induced higher surface damage. Originality/value Overall, the present study demonstrates the feasibility of a hybrid additive and subtractive manufacturing method that could potentially reduce cost and waste of the CFRP production for industrial applications.

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Abstract:Rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM) is a nontraditional and cost-effective machining method for hard and brittle materials, such as ceramics, optical glass, composite materials, and so on. RUM is a hybrid process that combines the material removal mechanisms of diamond abrasive grinding and ultrasonic machining. In RUM, a rotating cutting tool with metal-bonded diamond abrasive particles is ultrasonically vibrated in the axial direction while the tool spindle is fed toward the workpiece at a constant feedrate to remove material. It has been reported that continuous rotary ultrasonic machining has been successfully used to drill holes in K9 glass. Intermittent rotary ultrasonic machining is a newly introduced ultrasonic machining process, which uses a slotted cutting tool instead of a common metal bonded diamond cutting tool as used in continuous rotary ultrasonic machining. There has been no reported study to compare the effects of intermittent RUM and continuous RUM when machining K9 glass. This paper, for the first time, presents an experimental investigation to compare intermittent RUM and continuous RUM when machining K9 glass from the perspectives of cutting force, surface roughness, and chipping size.

Aerospace, automotive and sporting goods manufacturing industries have more interest on carbon fiber reinforced plastics due to its superior properties, such as lower density than aluminum; higher strength than high-strength metals; higher stiffness than titanium etc. Rotary ultrasonic machining is a hybrid machining process that combines the material removal mechanisms of diamond abrasive grinding and ultrasonic machining. Hole-making is the most common machining operation done on carbon fiber reinforced plastics, where delamination is a major issue. Delamination reduces structural integrity and increases assembly tolerance, which leads to rejection of a part or a component. Comparatively, rotary ultrasonic machining has been successfully applied to hole-making in carbon fiber reinforced plastics. As reported in the literature, rotary ultrasonic machining is superior to twist drilling of carbon fiber reinforced plastics in six aspects: cutting force, torque, surface roughness, delamination, tool life, and material removal rate. This paper investigates the effects of tool end angle on delamination in rotary ultrasonic machining of carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Several investigators have cited thrust force as a major cause for delamination. Eventhogh, it is found on this investigation, tool end angle has more significant influence on the delamination in rotary ultrasonic machining of carbon fiber reinforced plastics comparing to cutting force and torque.