Research on the influence of the cutting conditions on the surface microstructure of ultra-thin wall parts in ultrasonic vibration cutting

In many fields of high-tech industry ultra-thin wall parts are employed. In this paper are reported experiments carried out to explore the surface microstructure of a camera’s guided draw-tube when applying an ultrasonic vibration cutting device to the traditional lathe. The influence rule of the cutting conditions on the surface roughness was put forward, which was drawn by comparing ultrasonic cutting with common cutting by use of a cemented carbide tool and a polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tool. The test results showed that the ultrasonic cutting performs better than the common cutting for the same conditions. According to the analysis of the test results, the surface characterization is influenced clearly by the rigidity of the acoustic system and the machine tool. Also it is dependent on the proper setting height of the tool tip, otherwise, dense regular low-frequency vibration ripples will be scraped on the ultrasonic machined surface, i.e., when the tool tip is set higher than the rotating center of the workpiece by three times the amplitude of ultrasonic vibration, the vibration ripples behave alight; on the other hand, they turn light and shade alternately when the tool tip is lower than the rotating center of the workpiece by three times the amplitude of ultrasonic vibration.