Influence of ultrasonic vibration assistance in manufacturing processes: A Review

High precision and close tolerance is an essential requirement of current manufacturing industries dealing in micro-fabrication. The quality of surface obtained after machining process exhibits the utility of product. The various material and alloys are developed continuously to fulfill the need of application in critical conditions. The versatile characteristics of material also required a modification in manufacturing processes. The exotic material required a special treatment of machining to avoid the failure. Various methods of conventional, un-conventional and their hybrids have been developed to meet the above requirement. Wherein, ultrasonic vibration assistance has been extensively applied in numerous manufacturing processes to increase the process performance. In present review, ultrasonic vibration (UV)-assisted manufacturing processes for machining/finishing are covered using selected materials. Additionally, the benefits of UV assistance in welding such as arc compression, plasma pressure are discussed in details. Moreover, assistance of vibration in non-traditional machining processes such as ECM, EDM and AWJM is discussed in detail with their effects. In machining, ultrasonic assistance facilitate basic process by reduction in cutting force, and improvement in the machined morphology. Thus, the outcomes obtained from the large number of published literatures strongly demonstrate the significance of ultrasonic vibration in various sections of present article.