Ultrasonic assisted turning of an aluminium-based metal matrix composite reinforced with SiC particles

In this study, diamond turning of an aluminium-based metal matrix composite (MMC) reinforced with SiC particles was conducted with the assistance of ultrasonic vibrations. A simple and small size vibration device was designed to mount a piezoelectric transducer and a diamond insert onto a CNC machine. Turning experiments were carried out using a factorial design to investigate the effects of vibration and turning conditions on the surface finish of the turned MMC samples. The experimental results show that surface roughness of the MMC sample turned with ultrasonic vibrations is better than that of the MMC sample turned without ultrasonic vibrations. Turning with vibrations creates regular surface profiles along the turning and vibration direction, resulting in a light dispersion phenomenon, which is not reported in other articles. This phenomenon can only be observed when the pitch of the regular profiles is within a particular range. The pitch is determined by the cutting speed when the vibration frequency is fixed.