UNIT-1 Basics of Non-Traditional

Machining and Mechanical Energy

Techniques-I
 various aspects to be considered while selecting a UCM process
 A comparative analysis of the various unconventional manufacturing processes should be made so that a
guide-line may be drawn to find the suitability of application of different processes.

 A particular manufacturing process found suitable under the given conditions may not be equally efficient
under other conditions. Therefore, a careful selection of the process for a given manufacturing problem is
essential. The analysis has been made from the point of view of :

 (i) Physical parameters involved in the processes;

 (ii) Capability of machining different shapes of work material;

 (iii) Applicability of different processes to various types of material, e.g. metals, alloys and non-
metals;

 (iv) Operational characteristics of manufacturing and

 (v) Economics involved in the various processes.

From a comparative study of the effect of metal removal rate on the power consumed by various non-conventional
machining processes shown in fig.
 Capability to shape
The capability of different processes can be analyzed on the basis of various machining operation point of view
such as micro-drilling, drilling, cavity sinking, pocketing (shallow and deep), contouring a surface, through
cutting (shallow and deep) etc.
Table: Shape Application of Non-conventional Processes
 Applicability to materials
Materials applications of the various machining methods are summarized in the table 1.4 and table 1.5. For the
machining of electrically non-conducting materials, both ECM and EDM are unsuitable, whereas the mechanical
methods can achieve the desired results.
Machining characteristics
The machining characteristics of different non-conventional processes can be analyzed with respect to :
(i) Metal removal rate
(ii) Tolerance maintained
(iii) Surface finish obtained
(iv) Depth of surface damage
(v) Power required for machining
The process capabilities of non-conventional manufacturing processes have been compared in table 6.
 Economics of the processes
The economics of the various processes are analyzed on the basis of following factors and given in Table 7.
(i) Capital cost
(ii) Tooling cost
(iii) Consumed power cost
(iv) Metal removal rate efficiency
(v) Tool wear.
 ULTRASONIC MACHINING (USM)

Ultrasonic machining is one kind of grinding method. It is also known as ultrasonic grinding or impact grinding.
The term ultrasonic refers to waves of high frequency. Human ear can hear the sound waves between 20 Hz to 20
kHz. This range. is known as audible range.

The sound waves which have frequencies less than the audible range are called infrasonic waves. The sound
waves having frequencies above the audible range are known as ultrasonic waves.

The ultrasonic machining process is suitable only for hard and brittle materials like carbides, glass, ceramics,
silicon, precious stones, germanium, titanium, tungsten, tool steels, die steels, etc..

PRINCIPLE OF USM

In this machining method, a slurry of small abrasive particles are forced against the workpiece by means
of a vibrating tool and it causes the removal of metal from the workpiece in the form of extremely small chips.
CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING
It consists of abrasive slurry, workpiece, fixture, table, cutting tool, circulating pump, reservoir, ultrasonic
oscillator, leads, excitation coil, feed mechanism, ultrasonic transducer, transducer cone, connecting body and
tool holder.
The ultrasonic oscillator and amplifier also known as generator is used to convert the applied electrical energy
at low frequency to high frequency.
The transducer is made up of magneto strictive material and it consists of a stack of nickel laminations that are
wound with a coil. The function of the transducer is to convert the electrical energy into mechanical energy.
Generally tough and ductile tool material is used in this process. Low carbon steels and stainless steels are
commonly used as tool materials.
The tool is brazed, soldered or fastened mechanically to the transducer through a tool holder. Generally tool
holder is of cylindrical or conical in shape. The materials used for tool holders are titanium alloys, monel,
aluminium, stainless steel, etc.
An abrasive slurry, usually a mixture of abrasive grains and water of definite proportion (20 - 30 percent), is
made to flow under pressure through the gap between tool and workpiece. The gap between the tool and
workpiece is of the order 0.02 to 0.1 mm.
The most commonly used abrasives are boron carbide (B4C),silicon carbide (SiC), aluminium oxide (Al203),
and diamond. Boron carbide is most commonly used abrasive slurry, since it has the fastest cutting abrasive
property
Working:
 Electric power is given to ultrasonic oscillator and this oscillator converts the. electrical energy at low
frequency to high frequency (20 kHz).
High frequency power (20 kHz) from oscillator is supplied to the transducer. The function of the transducer is
to convert the electrical energy into mechanical vibrations.
The transducer is made up of magnetostrictivematerial, which is excited by flowing high frequency electric
current and this results in the generation of mechanical vibrations. The vibrations are generated in the transducer
of the order of 20 kHz to 30 kHz and hence ultrasonic waves are produced.
 These vibrations are then transmitted to the cutting tool through transducer cone, connecting body and tool
holder. This makes the tool to vibrate in a longitudinal direction.
 Abrasive slurry is pumped from the reservoir and it is made to flow under pressure through the gap between
tool and workpiece.
In an abrasive slurry, when the cutting tool vibrates at high frequency, it leads in the removal of metal from the
workpiece.
The impact force arises out from the vibration of tool end and the flow of slurry through the workpiece - tool
gap causes thousands of microscopic grains to remove the workpiece material by abrasion.
A refrigerated cooling system is used to cool the abrasive slurry to a temperature of 5 to 6°C. The ultrasonic
machining process is a copying process in which the shape of the cutting tool is same as that of the cavity
produced.
ADVANTAGES OF USM
1. Extremely hard and brittle materials can be easily machined.
2. Cost of metal removal is low.
3. Noiseless operation.
4. High accuracy and good surface finish can be easily obtained,
5. There is no heat generation in this process. So, the physicalproperties of the work material remain
unchanged.
6. Equipment is safe to operate.
7. Non-conducting materials of electricity such as glass, ceramics and semi-precious stones can be easily
machined.
8. The machined workpieces are free of stresses.
DISADVANTAGES OF USM
1. Metal removal rate is slow.
2. Softer materials are difficult to machine.
3. Wear rate of the tool is high.
4. The initial equipment cost is high.
5. For effective machining, the abrasive materials should be replaced periodically since the dull abrasives
stop cutting action
6. High power consumption.
7. Tool cost is high.
8.The size of the cavity that can be machined is limited.
APPLICATIONS OF USM
Holes as small as 0.1 mm can be drilled.
Precise and intricate shaped articles can be machined.
It has been efficiently applied to machine glass, ceramics, tungsten, precision mineral stones, etc.
 It is used for making tungsten carbide and diamond wire drawing dies and dies for forging and extrusion
processes.
Several machining operations like drilling, grinding, turning, threading, profiling, etc., on all materials
both conducting and non-conducting.
TYPES OF FEED MECHANISM

FEED MECHANISM

Feed system is used to apply the static load between the tool and workpiece during ultrasonic machining operation.
The basic requirements of tool mechanism are as follows

1. The tool should be moved slowly to prevent breaking.

2. The tool has to come back to its initial position after finishing its machining operation.

There are three types of feed mechanism which are used ultrasonic machining processes.

1. Gravity feed mechanism.

2. Spring loaded feed mechanism.

3. Pneumatic (or) Hydraulic feed mechanism.

1. Gravity Feed Mechanism
Fig. shows the operation of gravity feed mechanism. In this mechanism, counter weights are used to apply
the load to the head through a pulley as shown in Fig.
In order to reduce the friction, ball bearings are used. Gravity feed mechanism is generally preferred
because of its simple construction.
2. Spring Loaded Feed Mechanism
The arrangement of spring loaded feed mechanism is shown in Fig. In this mechanism, spring pressure is used
to feed the too during machining operation.
This type of mechanism is also preferred because of its sensitivity and compactness.
3. Pneumatic or Hydraulic Feed Mechanism.
In order to get high feed rate, pneumatic feed mechanism is used.
METAL REMOVAL RATE
The material removal rate per unit time time is inversely The proportional to the cutting arca of the tool.
Boron carbide is hardest material and has the highest metal removal rate.
Wear ratio is defined as the ratio of volume of material removed from the work to volume of material
eroded from tool.
Material removal in USM is a very complex process and it depends on certain factors.
1. Grain size of abrasive.
2. Abrasive materials.
3. Concentration of slurry.
4. Amplitude of vibration.
5. Frequency of ultrasonic waves.
1. Grain Size of Abrasive.
Material removal rate and surface finish are greatly influenced by grit or grain size of the abrasive.
Maximum rate in machining is attained when the grain size of the abrasive is comparable to the tool
amplitude.
For rough work operation, grit size of 200 - 400 are used and for finishing operation, grit size of 800 -
1000 are used.
Fig. Shows the effect of grain size for the material removal rate (MRR in ultrasonic machining process.
2. Abrasive Materials
For effective machining, the abrasive materials should be replaced periodically since the dull abrasives stop the
cutting action.
The proper selection of abrasive particles depends on the type of material to be machined, hardness of the material,
metal removal rate desired and the surface finish required.
The most commonly used abrasives are boron carbide and silicon carbide which are used for machining tungsten
carbide, die steel, etc. Aluminium oxide is the softest abrasive and it is used for machining glass and ceramics.
3. Concentration of Slurry
An abrasive slurry, usually a mixture of abrasive grains and water of definite proportion (20 - 30 percent), is made
to flow under pressure through the gap between tool and workpiece. Fig. shows how the material removal rate in
ultrasonic machining process varies With slurry concentration.
4. Amplitude of Vibration
Metal removal rate in ultrasonic machining process increases with increasing amplitude of vibration which is
shown in Fig.

5.Frequency: Ultrasonic wave frequency is directly proportional to the metal removalrate which is shown in
Fig
PROCESS PARAMETERS :
The various process parameters involved in USM methods are as follows
(i) Metal removal rate.
(ii) Tool material.
(iii) Tool wear rate.
(iv) Abrasive materials and abrasive slurry.
(v) Surface finish.
(vi) Work material.
(ii) Tool material:
Generally, tough and ductile tool material is used in USM process. Low carbon steels and stainless steels are
commonly used as tool materials. Since very long tools cause Overstress, the tool should be short and rigid.
Hollow tool can be made with wall thickness greater than 0.5 to 0.8 mm.
Side clearance to the tool is of the order of 0.06 mm to 0.36 mm is depending on grain size of abrasive. The USM
process a copying process in which the shape of the cutting tool is same as that of the cavity produced.
iii) Tool wear rate:
Tool wear ratio is defined as the ratio ne of volume of material removed from the work to the volume of material
eroded from the tool".
The wear ratio is approximated to 1.5: 1 for tungsten carbide (WC) workpiece, 100: 1 for glass, 50 : 1 for quartz,
75: 1 for ceramics and 1: 1 for hardened tool steel.
iv) Abrasive materials and Abrasive slurry:
The most commonly used abrasives are boron carbide, silicon carbide, aluminium oxide and diamond. Boron is the
most expensive abrasive material and is best suited for the cutting of tungsten carbide, tool steels, etc. Aluminium
oxide is the softest abrasive and it is used for machining glass and ceramics.
Material removal rate and surface finish are greatly influenced by grit or grain size of the abrasive. For roughing
work operation, grit size of 200 -400 are used and for finishing operation, grit size of 800 -1000 are used.
 An abrasive slurry is a mixture of abrasive grains and water of definite proportion (20 30 percent). Abrasive in a
slurry form is more effective compared to abrasives in loose form, since the liquid (water) would help removal of
material due to cavitation effect during return stock of the tool. Moreover, the liquid is used to distribute the
abrasive particles evenly into the working gap.
(v) Surface Finish:
The maximum speed of penetration in soft and brittle materials such as soft ceramics are of the order of 200 mm/
min. Penetration rate is lower for hard and tough materials. Accuracy of this process is 0.006 mm and surface
finish up to 0.02 to 0.8 micron value can be achieved.
(vi) Work materials:
Hard and brittle metals, non-metals like glass, ceramics, etc., and semiconductors are used as work material in
USM process. Wear ratio, average penetration rate and maximum machining area of the different workpiece
materials are shown in the following table.
ABRASIVE JET MACHINING (AJM)
PRINCIPLE OF AJM:

 In abrasive jet machining process, a high speed stream of abrasive particles mixed with high pressure air or
gas are injected through a nozzle on the work piece to be machined

CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF AJM

Construction:

 It consists of mixing chamber, nozzle, pressure gauge, hopper, filter, compressor, vibrating device, regulator,
etc.

The gases generally used in this process are nitrogen, carbon dioxide or compressed air.

The various abrasive particles used in this process are aluminium oxide, silicon carbide, glass powder,
dolomite and specially prepared sodium bicarbonate.
CONSTRUCTION OF AJM
Aluminium oxide (Al203) is a general purpose abrasive and it is used in sizes of 10, 25 and 50 micron. Silicon
carbide (SiC) is used for faster cutting on extremely hard materials. It is used in sizes of 25 and 50 microns.
Dolomite of 200 grit size is found suitable for light cleaning and etching. Glass powder of diameter 0.30 to 0.60
mm are used for light polishing and deburring.

As the nozzle is subjected to a great degree of abrasion wear, it is made up of hard materials such as tungsten
carbide, synthetic sapphire (ceramic), etc., to reduce the wear rate.

Nozzles made of tungsten carbide have an average life of 12 to20 hours, whereas synthetic sapphire nozzle
have an average life of 300 hours. Nozzle tip clearance from work is kept at a distance of 0.25 to 0.75 mm.

The abrasive powder feed rate is controlled by the amplitude of the vibration of mixing chamber. A pressure
regulator controls the gas or air flow and pressure. To control the size and shape of the cut, either the workpiece
or the nozzle is moved by a well designed mechanism such as cam mechanism, pantograph mechanism, etc.
Working:

Dry air or gas (N2 or CO2) is entered into the compressor through a filter where the pressure of air or gas is
increased. The pressure of the air varies from 2 kg / cm2 to kg / cm2.

Compressed air or high pressure gas is supplied to the mixing chamber through a pipe line. This pipe line carries a
pressure gauge and a regulator to control the air or gas flow and its pressure.

The fine abrasive particles are collected in the hopper and fed into the mixing chamber. A regulator is incorporated
in the line to control the flow of abrasive particles.

The mixture of pressurised air and abrasive particles from the mixing chamber flows into the nozzle at a
considerable speed.
Nozzle is used to increase the speed of the abrasive particles and it is increased up to 300 m / s.

This high speed stream of abrasive particles from the nozzle, impact the workpiece to be machined. Due to repeated
impacts, small chips of mater-ial get loosened and a fresh surface is exposed.
A vibrator is fixed at the bottom of the mixing chamber. When it vibrates, the amplitude of the -
vibrations controls the -flow of abrasive particles.

This process is widely used for machining hard and brittle materials, non-metallic materials
(germanium, glass, ceramics and mica) of thin sections. This process is capable of performing drilling,
cutting, deburring, etching and cleaning the surfaces.

Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM) process differs from sand blasting process. AJM is basically meant for
metal removal with the use of small abrasive particles, whereas the sand blasting process is a surface
cleaning process which does not involve any metal cutting.
 Advantages:
Drilling holes, cutting slots, cleaning hard surfaces, deburring, polishing, and radioing.
Deburring of cross holes, slots, and threads in small precision parts that require a burr
refinish, such as hydraulic valves, aircraft fuel systems, and medical appliances.
Machining intricate shapes or holes in sensitive, brittle, thin, or difficult-to-machine materials.
Insulation stripping and wire cleaning without affecting the conductor.
Micro-deburring of hypodermic needles.
Frosting glass and trimming of circuit boards, hybrid circuit resistors, capacitors, silicon, and gallium.
Removal of films and delicate cleaning of irregular surfaces because the abrasive stream is able to follow contours.
Limitations:
The removal rate is slow.
Stray cutting cant be avoided (low accuracy of 0.3 mm)
The tapering effect may occur especially when drilling in metals.
The abrasive may get impeded in the work surface.
Suitable dust-collecting systems should be provided.
Soft materials cant be machined by the process.
Silica dust may be a health hazard.
Applications
For drilling holes of intricate shapes in hard and brittle materials
For machining fragile, brittle and heat sensitive materials
AJM can be used for drilling, cutting, deburring, cleaning and etching.
Micro-machining of brittle materials
 process parameters of abrasive jet machining

The following are some of the important process parameters of abrasive jet machining:
1. Abrasive mass flow rate
2. Nozzle tip distance
3. Gas Pressure
4. Velocity of abrasive particles
5. Mixing ratio
6. Abrasive grain size
ABRASIVE MASS FLOW RATE:

Mass flow rate of the abrasive particles is a significant procedure parameter that impacts the metal removal rate in
abrasive jet machining. In AJM, mass flow rate of the gas (or air) in abrasive jet is contrarily corresponding to the mass
flow rate of the abrasive particles. Because of this reality, when persistently expanding the abrasive mass flow rate,
Metal Removal Rate (MRR) first increments to an ideal worth (as a result of increment in number of rough particles
hitting the work piece) and afterward diminishes. However, if the blending ratio is kept steady, Metal Removal Rate
(MRR) consistently increment with increment in rough mass flow rate.

NOZZLE TIP DISTANCE:

Nozzle Tip Distance (NTD) is the gap provided between the nozzle tip and the work piece.

Up to a certain limit, Metal Removal Rate (MRR) increases with increase in nozzle tip distance. After that limit, MRR
remains constant to some extent and then decreases. In addition to metal removal rate, nozzle tip distance influences
the shape and diameter of cut. For optimal performance, a nozzle tip distance of 0.25 to 0.75 mm is provided.
Gas pressure:
Air or gas pressure has a direct impact on metal removal rate. In abrasive jet machining, metal removal rate is
directly proportional to air or gas pressure.
Velocity of abrasive particles:
Whenever the velocity of abrasive particles is increased, the speed at which the abrasive particles hit the work
piece is increased. Because of this reason, in abrasive jet machining, metal removal rate increases with increase
in velocity o abrasive particles.
Mixing ratio:
Mixing ratio is a ratio that determines the quality of the air- abrasive mixture in Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM).It
is the ratio between the mass flow rate of abrasive particles and the mass flow rate of air (or gas).When mixing
ratio is increased continuously, metal removal rate first increases to some extent and then decreases.
Abrasive grain size:
Size of the abrasive particle determines the speed at which metal is removed. If smooth and fine surface finish is
to be obtained, abrasive particle with small grain size is used. If metal has to be removed rapidly, abrasive
particle with large grain size is.