Material removal during ultrasonic machining using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Hammering action plays a primary role in material removal in ultrasonic machining (USM). In the present study, Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is used to simulate the hammering action of a single silicon carbide abrasive particle on a float glass workpiece, and the implications for crack initiation and propagation on the workpiece are discussed in detail. The adequacy of the SPH model is verified through an experiment that utilizes a stationary ultrasonic drilling machine. It is shown that the distribution and size of the cracks on the sample workpiece are well in agreement with the simulation results. The current study presents a new way to understand the material removal process of USM, which is extremely significant for the further improvement of the performance of USM techniques.