Characteristics of Cutting Force in the Radial Ultrasonic Vibration Milling for TC4 Alloy

A radial ultrasonic vibration device was developed to investigate the characteristics of cutting forces during ultrasonic vibration assisted milling. A mathematic model of tool tip motion during vibration assisted milling was built. Based on this model, it is found that the feed rate per tooth is the main factor to affect the periodical contact and separation between tool and workpiece. The cutting experiment results show that, under the condition of periodical contact and separate, the cutting forces during ultrasonic assisted milling is remarkable lower than that during conventional milling. During ultrasonic vibration assisted machining, with the increase of feed rate, under the condition of periodical contact and separate, the cutting forces slowly increase. However, when the feed rate more than the double of amplitude of ultrasonic vibration the cutting forces have a significant increase, but still less than that during conventional milling.