ULTRASONIC VIBRATION ASSISTED MILLING OF AEROSPACE MATERIALS

The machinability of aerospace grade alloys is a major concern in the production of components and is the focus of industrial and academic research projects. Assisted processes have emerged as a potential alternative for machining aerospace materials, increasing the material removal rate while not compromising the quality of the component. One of the assisted processes which have shown potential are ultrasonic (vibration assisted) processes. In these methods the tool is vibrated at a high frequency using an actuator, usually parallel to the depth of cut direction. In general this method is thought to be more effective when applied to hard materials. This research focuses on the machining of an aerospace material on a milling configuration using traditional and ultrasonic machining techniques. The results present the potential benefits of using ultrasonic machining techniques in machining difficult to machine alloys.