Study of ultrasonically assisted turning of stainless steel and brass alloys

Abstract

Ultrasonically assisted turning (UAT) is a hybrid machining technique employing high-frequency small-amplitude vibration superimposed on the tool movement during turning. It is superior to conventional turning (CT) with regard to cutting forces, surface quality and machining accuracy. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different machining parameters on stainless steel and brass alloys, during both UAT and CT, and evaluate improvements of cutting forces, surface roughness, surface integrity, and machining accuracy. An experimental setup for UAT at Loughborough University was used to accomplish this investigation. This setup used a Picoscope data acquisition add-on with Kistler three-component dynamometer, Seco DNMG cutting inserts were utilized, a surface tester from Taylor Hobson was used to evaluate surface roughness, Alicona Infinite Focus microscope was used to evaluate surface roughness and surface integrity, while Metris CMM with Renishaw probe was employed to evaluate machining accuracy. Cylindrical workpieces of steel and brass alloys were turned under CT and UAT conditions; cutting forces, surface roughness, and machining accuracy produced with both techniques where compared. Significant improvements were noticed in the ultrasonically assisted machining when compared to the CT for both alloys. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.