ULTRASONIC MACHINING IS A NONTRADITIONAL MECHANICAL MATERIAL REMOVAL PROCESS APPLICABLE TO BOTH CONDUCTIVE AND NONCONDUCTIVE MATERIALS AND PARTICULARLY SUITED TO THE MACHINING OF BRITTLE MATERIALS SUCH AS CERAMICS, GRAPHITE, GLASS, AND CARBIDE. A NONABRASIVE FORM TOOL, CALLED A SONOTRODE, ATTACHED TO A TRANSDUCER/BOOSTER COMBINATION VIBRATES AT FREQUENCIES OF APPROXIMATELY 20,000 CYCLES PER SECOND. A MACHINING ACTION OCCURS AS THE SONOTRODE VIBRATES THE FINE ABRASIVE PARTICLES FLOWING THROUGHOUT THE MACHINING GAP AND PROPELS THEM AGAINST THE WORKPIECE MATERIAL FOR DRILLING HOLES, SLOTS, AND IRREGULAR CONFIGURATIONS. THE ULTRASONIC MACHINING PROCESS OFFERS A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES: MATERIAL HARDNESS IS RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT, THERE ARE NO CHEMICAL OR ELECTRICAL ALTERATIONS ON THE WORKPIECE SURFACE, AND COMPLEX THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONTOURS CAN BE MANUFACTURED AS QUICKLY AS SIMPLE ON
| Number of Pages : | 11 |
| Published : | 06/01/1990 |
