A mechanistic ultrasonic vibration amplitude model during rotary ultrasonic machining of CFRP composites

Rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM) has been investigated in machining of brittle, ductile, as well as composite materials. Ultrasonic vibration amplitude, as one of the most important input variables, affects almost all the output variables in RUM. Numerous investigations on measuring ultrasonic vibration amplitude without RUM machining have been reported. In recent years, ultrasonic vibration amplitude measurement with RUM of ductile materials has been investigated. It is found that the ultrasonic vibration amplitude with RUM was different from that without RUM under the same input variables. RUM is primarily used in machining of brittle materials through brittle fracture removal. With this reason, the method for measuring ultrasonic vibration amplitude in RUM of ductile materials is not feasible for measuring that in RUM of brittle materials. However, there are no reported methods for measuring ultrasonic vibration amplitude in RUM of brittle materials. In this study, ultrasonic vibration amplitude in RUM of brittle materials is investigated by establishing a mechanistic amplitude model through cutting force. Pilot experiments are conducted to validate the calculation model. The results show that there are no significant differences between amplitude values calculated by model and those obtained from experimental investigations. The model can provide a relationship between ultrasonic vibration amplitude and input variables, which is a foundation for building models to predict other output variables in RUM.