Thermomechanical finite element simulations of ultrasonically assisted turning

Ultrasonically assisted turning (UAT) is studied with finite element (FE) simulations and compared with conventional turning (CT) using both computational results and infrared thermography experiments. The two-dimensional thermomechanically coupled FE model of both UAT and CT utilizes MSC MARC general FE code and incorporates temperature dependent material properties, strain rate effects, heat generated due to plastic flow, contact interaction and friction at the cutter/workpiece interface. Material separation in front of a cutting edge and automatic remeshing of distorted elements are implemented in the developed computational scheme. Influence of friction on resultant temperatures and chip shapes in turning for both UAT and CT is discussed. Temperature fields in the cutting region and in the cutting tool for CT and UAT are studied and compared with the experimental data. A role of various heat transfer parameters on thermal processes in UAT and CT is investigated.