Fabrication of micro grooves on hard brittle materials

-Study on electrorheological fluid assisted ultrasonic machining-

Abstract

Ultrasonic machining (USM) is an effective method for machining hard brittle materials. In USM process, materials are removed by accumulation of small brittle fractures made by abrasive grains pressurized by the ultrasonic vibrating tool. The purpose of this study is to fabricate micro grooves on hard brittle materials accurately and efficiently by USM. In this paper, generation mechanism of chippings and deterioration mechanism of machining efficiency are investigated. And application of an electrorheological fluid to USM process is proposed as a countermeasure of these problems. As a result, high-precision and high-efficiency USM machining of micro groove is achieved.