Experimental research of Al6061 on ultrasonic vibration assisted micro-milling

An ultrasonic vibration assisted micro-milling (UVAM) with longitudinal vibration of workpiece is investigated in this paper. The most essential difference between ordinary micro-milling and UVAM lies in the trajectory of cutter tooth. A mathematical model has been established to simulate the trajectory of the cutter tooth. A more complex and ergodic trajectory has been found in UVAM. Series of experiments have been performed to investigate the surface roughness of Al6061 processed by micro-milling with and without ultrasonic vibration. It is found that the surface of Al6061 processed by UVAM has a smaller roughness value compared to that processed by ordinary micro-milling when choose an appropriate ultrasonic vibration amplitude. The influence of different ultrasonic vibration amplitude on surface roughness of Al6061 processed by UVAM has been analyzed. It is found that ultrasonic vibration amplitude has an optimum value with regard to the surface roughness of Al6061 processed by UVAM and is not the bigger the better. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.