Theoretical model for cutting force in rotary ultrasonic milling of dental zirconia ceramics

Rotary ultrasonic machining or ultrasonic vibration assisted grinding has superior performance in machining hard and brittle materials, such as dental zirconia ceramics. However, there are few reports about cutting force modeling of rotary ultrasonic milling (RUM) for dental ceramics, especially for cutting force model in feed direction. In this study, the theoretical model of cutting force both in axial direction and feed direction is proposed under the assumption that brittle fracture is the primary mechanism of material removal in RUM of dental ceramics. The effective cutting time and material removal volume have been analyzed to develop the cutting force model. Besides, the number of active abrasive particles has been calculated for the first time during the modeling. The effect of overlapping and intersection of fracture zone in peripheral direction on material removal volume has also been considered via the parameters K (1) and K (2). In addition, the relationships between the cutting force and input variables are revealed through the theoretical model. Finally, pilot experiments of RUM on dental zirconia ceramics are conducted to verify the theoretical model. The experimental results are consistent well with the model predictions. Therefore, the theoretical model can be applied to evaluate the cutting force in RUM of dental ceramics.