Review: Progress and Trends in Ultrasonic Vibration Assisted Friction Stir Welding

This paper aims to reviewthe state-of-the-art of ultrasonic vibration assisted friction stir welding(UVAFSW) process. Particular attention has been paid on the modes of ultrasonic exertion,experimental results and effects of ultrasonic vibrations on process effectiveness and joint quality. The trends of various aspects with and without ultrasonic vibrations in FSW process are studied and presented. The influence of ultrasonic vibrations on welding loads, temperature history, weld morphology, material flow, weld microstructure and mechanical properties are revisited. Ultrasonic assisted FSW offers numerous advantages over the conventional FSW process. The superimposing of high-frequency vibrations improves various phenomena of the process and the physical,metallurgical,mechanical and tribological properties of the welded joint. The ultrasonic assisted FSW process has a potential to benefit the industry sector. A checklist listing the materials and process parameters used in the documented studies has been presented for quick reference.

Separate critical condition for ultrasonic vibration assisted grinding

Separate characteristic of the tangential ultrasonic vibration assisted grinding (TUAG) machining is analyzed based on TUAG process, and a critical speed formula is given to correctly set the machining parameters to insure the separate characteristics of TUAG process. The critical speed is not only related to the ultrasonic vibration amplitude and frequency, but also to the grinding wheel velocity and the cutting point space, and the grinding force can be decreased during the TUAG process with separability. Grinding force experiments are conducted, and the experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical results.

Effect of ultrasonic vibration on finished quality in ultrasonic vibration assisted micromilling of Inconel718

Inconel718 was machined with the traditional micromilling(TMM)and ultrasonic vibration assisted micromilling(UVAMM)with the different technology parameters,whose surface quality and burrs formation were studied.The results show that TMM often forms pits,bumps and gullies in the size effect range.UVAMM effectively improves the surface quality compared with TMM.The surface defects are significantly reduced with the increase of feed per tooth(fz).When fz exceeds 4 lm,the effect of ultrasonic vibration on the surface quality is no longer obvious.The minimum burr size on the down milling side and the up milling side are 50.23 lm and 36.57 lm,respectively.The feasibility of vibration cutting in improving surface quality and suppressing burr size was verified.UVAMM effectively suppresses the formation of built-up edge,which can significantly improve the micromilling process.The cutting force is obtained through simulation and experiment.They are agreement in the change trend.The finite element simulation can be used to predict the cutting force.Compared with TMM,feeding force(Fx),radial force(Fy)and axial force(Fz)of UVAMM decrease by 7.6%,11.5%and 1.3%,respectively.

Vibration Assisted Extrusion of Polypropylene

A new homemade apparatus, i.e. vibration assisted extrusion equipment, is employed to extrude polypropylene. Vibration assisted extrusion is based on the application of a specific macroscopic shear vibration field. Reduction of apparent melt viscosity as a function of vibration frequency is measured at different screw speeds and die temperatures. The effect of the process is investigated by performing mechanical tests, differential scanning calorimetry studies, polarized light microscopy and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. It is found that, compared with conventional extrusion, vibration assisted extrusion could effectively improve the rheological properties of PP melt by incorporating an extra shear vibration field. Both the tensile strength and elongation at break increased under the shear vibration field. For vibration assisted extrusion samples, both the melting temperature and crystallinity increased, accompanied by remarkable grain refinement. Vibration assisted extrusion induced a significantly enhanced bimodal orientation with a high fraction of a^＊-oriented α-crystallites, while only a limited improvement in the flow direction orientation. A structural model, i.e. bimodal c-axis and a^＊-axis orientation of PP macromolecular chains, was adopted to explain the experimental results.

Ultrasonic vibration assisted tungsten inert gas welding of dissimilar magnesium alloys

The effects of ultrasonic vibration assisted（UVA） treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of MB3/AZ31 dissimilar magnesium（Mg） alloy joints were studied by microstructural characterization, micro-hardness testing and tensile testing. Results indicate that the welding pores are eliminated and coarse a-Mg grains of fusion zone are refined to 26 μm, owing to the acoustic streaming effect and cavitation effect induced by the UVA treatment with an optimal ultrasonic power of 1.0 kW.In addition, Mg;Al;precipitation phases are fine and uniformly distributed in the whole fusion zone of weldment. Micro-hardness of fusion zone of the Mg alloy joints increases to 53.5 HV after UVA process,and the maximum tensile strength with optimized UVA treatment increases to 263 MPa, which leads to fracture occurrence in the Mg alloy base plate. Eventually, it is experimentally demonstrated that robust MB3/AZ31 Mg alloy joints can be obtained by UVA process.

Vibration-assisted material damage mechanism:From indentation cracks to scratch cracks

Vibration-assisted grinding is one of the most promising technologies for manufacturing optical components due to its efficiency and quality advantages.However,the damage and crack propagation mechanisms of materials in vibration-assisted grinding are not well understood.In order to elucidate the mechanism of abrasive scratching during vibration-assisted grinding,a kinematic model of vibration scratching was developed.The influence of process parameters on the evolution of vibration scratches to indentation or straight scratches is revealed by displacement metrics and velocity metrics.Indentation,scratch and vibration scratch experiments were performed on quartz glass,and the results showed that the vibration scratch cracks are a combination of indentation cracks and scratch cracks.Vibration scratch cracks change from indentation cracks to scratch cracks as the indenter moves from the entrance to the exit of the workpiece or as the vibration frequency changes from high to low.A vertical vibration scratch stress field model is established for the first time,which reveals that the maximum principal stress and tensile stress distribution is the fundamental cause for inducing the transformation of the vibration scratch cracking system.This model provides a theoretical basis for understanding of the mechanism of material damage and crack propagation during vibration-assisted grinding.

Comprehensive modeling approach of axial ultrasonic vibration grinding force

The theoretical model of axial ultrasonic vibration grinding force is built on the basis of a mathematical model of cutting deforming force deduced from the assumptions of thickness of the undeformed debris under Rayleigh distribution and a mathematical model of friction based on the theoretical analysis of relative sliding velocity of abrasive and workpiece. Then, the coefficients of the ultrasonic vibration grinding force model are calculated through analysis of nonlinear regression of the theoretical model by using MATLAB, and the law of influence of grinding depth, workpiece speed, frequency and amplitude of the mill on the grinding force is summarized after applying the model to analyze the ultrasonic grinding force. The result of the above-mentioned law shows that the grinding force decreases as frequency and amplitude increase, while increases as grinding depth and workpiece speed increase; the maximum relative error of prediction and experimental values of the normal grinding force is 11.47% and its average relative error is 5.41%; the maximum relative error of the tangential grinding force is 10.14% and its average relative error is 4.29%. The result of employing regression equation to predict ultrasonic grinding force approximates to the experimental data, therefore the accuracy and reliability of the model is verified.

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation on Interfacial Carbon Diffusion of Diamond Tool and Ferrous Metals

We numerically simulated and experimentally studied the interfacialcarbon diffusion between diamond tooland workpiece materials.A diffusion modelwith respect to carbon atoms of diamond toolpenetrating into chips and machined surface was established.The numericalsimulation results of the diffusion process revealthat the distribution laws of carbon atoms concentration have a close relationship with the diffusion distance,the diffusion time,and the originalcarbon concentration of the work material.In addition,diamond face cutting tests of die steels with different carbon content are conducted at different depth of cuts and feed rates to verify the previous simulation results.The micro-morphology of the chips is detected by scanning electron microscopy.Energy dispersive X-ray analysis was proposed to investigate the change in carbon content of the chips surface.The experimentalresults of this work are of benefit to a better understanding on the diffusion wear mechanism in single crystaldiamond cutting of ferrous metals.Moreover,the experimentalresults show that the diffusion wear of diamond could be reduced markedly by applying ultrasonic vibration to the cutting toolcompared with conventionalturning.