Optimization and Finite Element Modeling of MRR in USM Process

Abstract

The use of hard brittle material has become increasingly more extensive. However, it is time-consuming to machine the hard brittle material with the traditional metal-cutting technique that uses abrasive wheels. In addition, the tool would suffer excessive wear as well. As the efficacy of using hard brittle material has increased in recent years, processing such material for part fabrication has become a challenging problem difficult to solve. However, if ultrasonic energy is applied to the machining process and coupled with the use of hard abrasive grits, hard brittle material can be effectively removed. Ultrasonic machining process is mostly used in brittle material drilling. In this work, the study of a mechanism of material removal in brittle material with emphasis of High-speed steel (HSS) has been carried out using Finite Element Method. An attempt has been made to correlate the temp and stress distribution patterns with the failure of HSS work piece and the material removal rate from the FEM model has been determined. Further experiments carried out to validate the results obtained by the developed FEM model for different abrasive slurries with different grit sizes, constraints has been taken to determined which parameters is affecting the material removal rate most.