Material removal rate prediction for ultrasonic drilling of hard materialsusing an impact oscillator approach

It is postulated that the main mechanism of the enhancement of material rem oval rate (MRR) in ultrasonic machining is associated with high amplitudes forces generated by impacts, which act on the workpiece and help to develop micro-cracking in the cutting zone. The inherent non-linearity of the disc ontinuous impact process is modelled, to generate the pattern of the impact forces. A novel procedure for calculating the MRR is proposed, which for t he first time explains the experimentally observed fall in MRR at higher st atic forces. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.