A study of surface texturing using piezoelectric tool holder actuator on conventional CNC turning

Tribology studies have recently shown the beneficial reduction in the friction coefficient of various mechanical components by application of surface texturing. This study presents a study of surface texturing using a piezoelectric tool holder actuator whereby the tool holder installed on a conventional computerized numerical controlled (CNC) machine lathe. The tool holder used in surface texturing a workpiece surface, yields average strokes up to 26 ?m and has a natural frequency of approximately 480 Hz. A piezo actuator of 15 mu m maximum displacement was utilized, and a single parallel four-bar flexure hinge mechanism magnified the input displacement from the piezo actuator by an amplification ratio of 3:1. In this study, a piezo actuator that operated under the open-loop condition, in modulation frequency range from 100 Hz to 135 Hz, was imposed to cut into the workpiece surface to build a pattern of dimples. Moreover, the characteristics of the dimple-pattern topography were investigated by varying the spindle rotation rate between 30 rpm and 100 rpm at constant modulation frequency of 120 Hz. According to the experimental results, Al 6061-T6 and AISI 1045 were successfully textured by using the piezoelectric tool holder actuator. The results showed that the maximum errors of the dimple feature on Al 6061-T6 and AISI 1045 were approximately 10.14% and 47.97%, respectively, between the analysis and experimental results.