M. Komaraiah, and P. N. Reddy

Source: International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, v 33, 1993, p 495-505

Abstract: In ultrasonic machining (USM) brittle materials are machined by repeated impacts on the workpiece through a medium of abrasive slurry. Material removal rates are influenced by various process parameters including the properties of the workpiece material. In this investigation, the influence of fracture toughness and hardness of workpiece materials are studied and reported. Fracture toughness is found to be an important parameter. Experiments are conducted with both conventional and rotary USM modes. Machining performance in the rotary mode is found to be much superior to the conventional mode. The results of static, sliding and rolling indentation tests reported by other investigators are used for explaining the importance of fracture toughness.