Design of an Ultrasonic Elliptic-Vibration Shoe and Its Performance in Ultrasonic Elliptic-Vibration-Shoe Centerless Grinding

Abstract

We describe the design of an ultrasonic elliptic-vibration shoe and its performance in ultrasonic elliptic-vibration-shoe centerless grinding. First, the vibration modes of the shoe for the bending and longitudinal directions are discussed and determined from the point of view of fixing the support of the shoe. Then the structure and dimensions of the shoe are determined by FEM (Finite Element Method) analysis. In order to clarify the performance of the produced shoe, an evaluation apparatus is built. The elliptic motions under different applied voltages are investigated using laser vibrometers. Finally, workpiece rotational motion control tests and actual grinding operations are carried out. As a result, it is clarified that the workpiece rotational speed changes linearly with variation of the applied voltage. This indicates that the workpiece rotational motion can be precisely controlled by the elliptic motion of the shoe. In addition, the workpiece roundness was clearly improved from an initial value of 25µm to a final value of 0.64µm after grinding, indicating that the produced shoe performed well in actual grinding operations.