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Ultrasonic machining uses a slurry of abrasive liquid to remove material from a workpiece. The tool vibrates against the abrasives, causing them to attack the workpiece. The process is ideal for fragile materials and requires a softer, more plastic tool than standard machining.
Ultrasonic machining is a grinding method that uses an abrasive liquid rather than direct contact with the tool. Most grinding processes involve a working tool making direct contact with a workpiece to gouge out the material. In ultrasonic machining, a liquid filled with abrasive material flows over the workpiece and the tool vibrates against the abrasives. Abrasive materials attack the workpiece and remove material. Because the tool does not directly touch the workpiece, the pressure and tool materials used in ultrasonic machining are often very different from those used in more common machining techniques.
The key to an ultrasonic machining process is the abrasive liquid. This material, called a slurry, is a mixture of a free-flowing liquid and one or more types of solid abrasive. The liquid part of the slurry is usually water. For some jobs benzene, glycerol, or oil can be used instead, but increasing the viscosity of the liquid will often lead to a slower process.
Since the abrasive used in the ultrasonic machining suspension must be harder than the material being machined, a wide variety of abrasives are common. The basic abrasives are often silicon carbide or boron carbide, mainly due to their hardness and low cost. Occasionally, diamond dust is used to machine the hardest materials.
The working tool used in ultrasonic machining is different from those used in a standard process. The tool is often made of a softer material with high plasticity. This allows the abrasives to strike the tool, but not damage it as it does the material being worked on. These tools are often too soft for standard machining jobs; they would deform as soon as they hit the work piece.
The ultrasonic machining process of a part looks similar to a normal process, but is actually very different. The slurry flows over the work area, creating a connection between the work piece and the work tool. The tool vibrates, causing the abrasives to bounce back and forth between the workpiece and the tool. As the tool deforms, it absorbs the impacts of the abrasives as the work piece develops small cracks. The cracks eventually cause small pieces to break off until the machined area of the work piece matches the shape of the working tool.
The most common reason to use ultrasonic machining is when a part is very fragile. On a brittle substance, a standard mechanical process will cause the material to crack and break. This will generally result in a ruined final product. Ultrasonic machining uses thousands of small impacts and very little pressure to pull material away from a substance. This rarely results in a break, even in very brittle materials.
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