Experimental study and optimization of the machining parameters in ultrasonic vibrationassisted turning (UVT)

Abstract

In recent year’s applications of hard materials in different industries, like aviation, defense and
petrochemicals sectors etc. have been increased remarkably. The machining of these hard materials is very difficult in conventional turning process. Ultrasonic assisted turning is a suitable and advanced process for machining hard and brittle material because of its periodic cutting mechanism. In the present work, an ultrasonic vibratory tool (UVT) is designed and analyzed using ANSYS® environment for calculation of its natural frequency and working
amplitude of vibration. An ultrasonic assisted turning system is designed in consideration of cutting tool as a cantilever beam. Experimental study has been carried out to find the difference between ultrasonic-assisted turning and conventional turning at different cutting conditions taking Stainless steel (a general purpose engineering material) as the work piece material. It is found that ultrasonic assisted turning reduces the surface roughness and cutting forces in comparison with conventional turning. It is well known that cutting forces and surface finish/ roughness are two major parameters which affect the productivity of the turning process. In the present work, Taguchi with TOPSIS method is used to optimize both forces and surface roughness to find the best possible machining parameters under the used experimental working conditions.