Surface modeling and analysis of high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting

High-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting has been proven to be effective in prolonging tool life, as well as reducing cutting force and cutting temperature at certain cutting speeds, which is higher than both the critical cutting speed of traditional ultrasonic vibration cutting and the range of conventional high-speed cutting in recent research. However, the surface topography results from the periodic sinuous tool vibration trajectory, and its influence on machined surface roughness, remains unclear. Therefore, in this article, the modeling and analysis of the surface topography and roughness are developed first. Then, simulations conducted through MATLAB calculations, SOLIDWORKS modeling, and cutting experiments are conducted to investigate the influences of the feed rate and the phase shift between the adjacent tool trajectories on the surface roughness. The results indicate that optimal surface roughness can be obtained under the conditions of a small feed rate (0.005 mm/r) and a phase shift of 180 degrees. In this condition, the surface finish can reach Ra < 0.4 mu m and realize finishing machining. In addition, compared with conventional cutting, high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting can achieve the same quality at a cutting speed two times that of conventional cutting. Consequently, a better surface quality can be obtained through high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting, due to the decrease of surface roughness compared with that of conventional cutting.