Nontraditional energy-assisted mechanical machining of difficult-to-cut materials and components in aerospace community:a comparative analysis

The aerospace community widely uses difficult-to-cut materials,such as titanium alloys,high-temperature alloys,metal/ceramic/polymer matrix composites,hard and brittle materials,and geometrically complex components,such as thin-walled structures,microchannels,and complex surfaces.Mechanical machining is the main material removal process for the vast majority of aerospace components.However,many problems exist,including severe and rapid tool wear,low machining efficiency,and poor surface integrity.Nontraditional energy-assisted mechanical machining is a hybrid process that uses nontraditional energies(vibration,laser,electricity,etc)to improve the machinability of local materials and decrease the burden of mechanical machining.This provides a feasible and promising method to improve the material removal rate and surface quality,reduce process forces,and prolong tool life.However,systematic reviews of this technology are lacking with respect to the current research status and development direction.This paper reviews the recent progress in the nontraditional energy-assisted mechanical machining of difficult-to-cut materials and components in the aerospace community.In addition,this paper focuses on the processing principles,material responses under nontraditional energy,resultant forces and temperatures,material removal mechanisms,and applications of these processes,including vibration-,laser-,electric-,magnetic-,chemical-,advanced coolant-,and hybrid nontraditional energy-assisted mechanical machining.Finally,a comprehensive summary of the principles,advantages,and limitations of each hybrid process is provided,and future perspectives on forward design,device development,and sustainability of nontraditional energy-assisted mechanical machining processes are discussed.

Complex geometric modeling and tooth contact analysis of a helical face gear pair with arc-tooth

A complex geometric modeling method of a helical face gear pair with arc-tooth generated by an arc-profile cutting(APC)disc is proposed,and its tooth contact characteristics are analyzed.Firstly,the spatial coordinate system of an APC face gear pair is established based on meshing theory.Combining the coordinate transformation matrix and the tooth profile of the cutter,the equations of the curve envelope of the APC face gear pair are obtained.Then the surface equations are solved to extract the point clouds data by programming in MATLAB,which contains the work surface and the fillet surface of the APC face gear pair.And the complex geometric model of the APC face gear pair is built by fitting its point clouds.At last,through the analysis of the tooth surface contact,the sensitivity of the APC face gear to the different types of mounting errors is obtained.The results show that the APC face gear pair is the most sensitive to mounting errors in the tooth thickness direction,and it should be strictly controlled in the actual application.