CHAPTER 4

VIBRATION ASSISTED MILLING

DR. J. RAMKUMAR1 AND AJAY VARDHMAN2

1PROFESSOR AND 2RESEARCH STUDENT
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MICROMANUFACTURING LAB, I.I.T. KANPUR
Micromanufacturing Lab, I.I.T. Kanpur
 INTRODUCTION
 High-accuracy components are increasingly in demand for various industries, such as
biomedical engineering, MEMS, electro-optics, aerospace and communications.

 In addition to the aims of achieving tight tolerances and high quality surface finishes,
many applications also require the use of hard and brittle materials such as optical glass
and technical ceramics.

 The materials for biomedical, e.g., brain implants are made of semiconductor materials
(silicon, gallium nitride, silicon carbide), automatics and robotics, made of piezoelectric
materials (aluminium nitride, lithium niobate).

 Therefore, there is an ever-increasing demand to manufacture precision products made

from such materials. However, due to their high hardness and usually rather low fracture
toughness, processing and fabrication of these materials components, which usually
require complex features, has always been a challenging task facing industry.
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 Conventional milling or micromilling, is believed to be the most versatile processing
method as it is capable of generating a wide variety of complex components and
structures from micro- to macroscale.

 Micromilling processes bear different material removal mechanisms compared to the

conventional milling.

 There are two major bottlenecks which limit further development of micromilling

1. The deformation and vibration between the microcutter and the workpiece would interfere with
the machining accuracy.

2. The excessive tool wear and short tool life during micromilling.

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 Vibration-Assisted Machining (VAM)
 VAM is an external energy-assisted machining method in which high frequency and small
amplitude vibration is superimposed to the tool or workpiece to improve the material
removal process.

 With appropriate machining and vibration conditions the tool periodically loses contact
with the chip, which changes the cutting mechanics and can improve machining
performance.

 VAM has been applied to several machining processes for the processing of hard
materials, including turning, milling, drilling, and grinding.

 VAM reduces the machining forces, improved surface finish and accuracy, suppression of
burr formation, reduces tool wear and extends tool life.

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 PRINCIPLE OF VIBRATION-ASSISTED MILLING
Kinematics of Vibration-Assisted Milling
 According to the direction of the vibration applied, VAMILL can be divided into two main
groups
 1D VAMILL, where the vibration applies either in the feed direction, feed-directional vibration-
assisted milling (FVAMILL), or in the cross-feed direction, cross-feed-directional vibration-assisted
milling (CFVAMILL)
 2D VAM milling (2DVAMILL), where the vibration applies simultaneously in both the feed and the
cross-feed directions.

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 The mathematical equation of the tool tip motion without vibration imposed is as follows

where, r and ω are the radius and angular velocity of

the cutter, zi is the ith cutter tooth, and Z is number of
flutes.

 ……………………….(1)

 Assume that vibration is applied to workpiece and the vibration trajectory becomes:

 ……………………….(2)

where f is feed velocity, A and B are the vibration

amplitudes, fx and fy are the vibration frequencies,
φx and φy are the phase angles, in x- and y-
directions, respectively.
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 The relative displacement (xi, yi) of tool tip to workpiece in VAM milling can be obtained
from Eqs.

 An appropriate pattern of toolworkpiece separation (TWS) is the key to the success of VAM

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 Types of TWS in Vibration-Assisted Milling
Type I TWS Type I separation occurs in the current tool path when the
cutting direction component (i.e., tangential component) of
the relative velocity between tool and workpiece is
opposite to the tool rotation direction, resulting in the tool tip
lagging behind the workpiece and hence TWS takes place.

In position 1, the cutting direction component of the relative

velocity between tool and workpiece is greater than zero,
the tool is in contact with the workpiece.

When the tool advances to position 2, where the cutting

direction component of the relative velocity is equal to zero,
and it is about to break contact with workpiece.

In position 3 the cutting direction component of the relative velocity is negative, i.e., in the opposite
direction to the tool rotation, and the tool separates from the workpiece the cutting direction
component of the relative velocity changes from zero to negative then to positive. In position 4 the tool
regains contact with the workpiece.
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Type II TWS
Type II separation occurs in the current tool path, where
vibration displacement in the instantaneous cutting thickness
direction (i.e., tool radial direction) is larger than the
instantaneous uncut chip thickness, resulting in the tool being
cut out of the workpiece and hence TWS takes place.

In position 1, the vibration displacement in the tool radial

direction is smaller than the instantaneous uncut chip
thickness, so the tool is in contact with the workpiece.

When the tool advances to position 2 where the vibration displacement in the tool radial direction is
same as the instantaneous uncut chip thickness, and it is about to break contact with workpiece.

In position 3 the vibration displacement exceeds the instantaneous uncut chip thickness, and the tool
completely separates from the workpiece.

Until the vibration displacement is equal to the instantaneous uncut chip thickness in position 4 the tool
regains contact with the workpiece.
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Type III TWS
It can be seen that the current tool path with vibration
assistance overlaps in some regions with the surface contour
left by previous cutting path(s).

Hence in these overlapping regions the cutting tool edge may

break contact with the workpiece and discontinuous chips are
generated.

As part of the material in the current cutting path has been

removed by previous cutting path(s) periodical separation of
tool workpiece can take place.

It should be noted that in most cases during VAMILL, Type I, II, and III separation could happen
simultaneously.

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 Requirements of TWS
Type I Separation Requirements
 Type I separation is subject to the value of the relative velocity between the tool tip and
the workpiece in the cutting direction.

 Differentiating Eq. (1), the relative velocity of the tool tip without vibration assistance, i.e.,
the nominal cutting velocity, Vt, is obtained as

 Similarly, on the instantaneous cutting direction, the velocity components in x and y

directions of the workpiece material are obtained through differentiating Eq. (2) as

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Vibration in Cross-Feed Direction (CFVA Milling)
 In the case where A50, the tool center orbit turns into a harmonic linear locus along the
cross-feed direction, and to meet the requirements of the type I separation.

Where θ is the tool rotation angle at time t. Rearrange Eq.

Obviously the above Eq. is solvable when

 As shown in the simulation example, within a full circle of tool rotation, the region where
Type I separations is likely to occur is

where θ=θ1
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(A) The region where Type 1 separation is likely to occur during
one circle of tool path

(B) the relative velocity in cutting direction during VAMILL

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Vibration in Feed Direction (FVA Milling)
 In the case where B50, the tool center performs a 1D sinusoidal vibration along the feed
direction. Similarly to the previous case, the requirement for Type I separation to occur is

Rearrange Eq.

Eq. is solvable when

 As shown in the simulation example, within a full circle of tool rotation, the region where
Type I separations are is likely to occur is

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(A) The area where Type 1 separation is likely to occur during
one circle of tool path

(B) relative velocity in cutting direction during VAMILL

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Type II Separation Requirements
 Type II separation depends on the relative displacement between the nominal uncut chip
thickness and the vibration displacement.

 In a conventional milling process, the instantaneous uncut chip thickness, hD, can be
expressed by

where fz is feed per tooth.

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Vibration in Cross-Feed Direction (CFVA Milling)
 Considering the vibration in the cross-feed direction as shown in Fig. A,the instantaneous
uncut chip thickness, hDV, can be expressed by

 when tanθ<yw=fz, hDV can be less than zero, thus Type II separation could occur as shown in
kinematic simulation results of Fig.B.

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Vibration in Feed Direction (FVA Milling)
 Considering the vibration in feed direction as shown in Fig.C, the instantaneous uncut chip
thickness can be expressed by

when fz -xw < 0, hDV can be less than zero, thus Type II separation will occur as shown in
kinematic simulation results of Fig.D.
It can be found that in order to
achieve periodic Type II
separation, the vibration should be
applied in the feed direction, and
the vibration amplitude should be
larger than the feed per tooth, but
large vibration amplitude will
affect the quality of processing,
increase the impact force on the
tool, and worsen the machining
quality.
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Type III Separation Requirements
 Type III separation depends on the surface contour generated by previous tool paths, for
which a mathematical expression is difficult to obtain.

Vibration in Cross-Feed Direction

The trajectory of the tool tip and instantaneous uncut chip thickness when the vibration
frequency is odd times of the spindle speed Micromanufacturing Lab, I.I.T. Kanpur
The trajectory of the tool tip and instantaneous uncut chip thickness when the vibration
frequency is even times of the spindle speed.

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Vibration in Feed Direction
 When the applied vibration frequency is odd times of the spindle rotation frequency, the
peaks (troughs) of waves of the ith tool tip trajectory overlap with the troughs (peaks) of
waves of the (i+1)th tool tip trajectory as shown in Fig. A

 If the vibration amplitude is larger than half of the feed per tooth, the tool tip and the
workpiece are continuously periodically separated in the whole cutting process as shown in
Fig. B
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 When the applied vibration frequency is even times of the spindle rotation frequency, the
peaks (troughs) of waves in the ith tool tip trajectory overlap with the peaks (troughs) of
wave in the (i+1)th tool tip trajectory as shown in Fig. C

 These overlaps make the uncut chip thickness fluctuate constantly, but no Type III
separation occurs during the whole cutting process as shown in Fig. D

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 ACTUATION METHODS
 Magneto-Strictive Actuator

 Piezo-Actuator

 Mechanical Actuation Methods

Magneto-Strictive Actuator
 Xiang et al. established a system that combined the milling process with 35 kHz 15 μm
longitudinal vibration generated by a magneto-strictive actuator as shown in Fig. during the
milling of SiCp/Al composites.
 Reduction in both cutting forces and crack growth were reported.

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Piezo-Actuator
Piezo-actuators has superior features, such as
 High energy efficiency,
 High precision,
 Fast response,
 Low friction and wear,
 Compact size, have received an ever-increasing interest in most ultrasonic-frequency
applications

There are two basic working modes of a piezo-actuation system, namely,

➢ Resonant mode

➢ Nonresonant mode

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Resonant mode
 Resonant mode is where the piezo-stack stretches and pulls back at a frequency close to
the natural resonance of the structure, so that a significantly large displacement can be
obtained at much higher efficiency.

 In this mode the losses of energy in electromechanical conversion and self-heating are
quite low, and the vibration frequency can reach as high as up to several tens of kHz with
the amplitudes ranging from several to several hundred microns.

 The principle of resonant-mode-driven piezo-actuators also limits its application to fixed-

ultrahigh-frequency scenarios only, which is the most obvious drawback.

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 Shamoto et al. developed a vibration-assisted lathe which utilized 4 PZT actuators to the
turning tool, with 180 phase difference between each pair, causing 20 kHz (3rd grade
resonant frequency) elliptical vibration at the turning tool with 3 degrees of freedom (DOF),
as shown in Fig.

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 Ko et al. applied a 38.8 kHz Z-axis vibration, which is parallel to the machining spindle, to the
workpiece holder instead of the cutting tool, while further extending the application to
milling at the same time.
 The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1-D longitudinal vibration is introduced to a horn and
a “sandwich” transducer attached to the workpiece holder.

Experimental setup of two VAM systems where the vibration is applied at the workpiece holder
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Nonresonant Mode

 The nonresonant mode is usually used for 2D vibration-assisted milling in feed and cross-feed
directions.

 The typical solution of the nonresonant mode is using the flexure mechanism driven by
piezo-actuators.

 The nonresonant system is not limited to a fixed operating frequency and offers a more
precise motion control.

 However, it is difficult to produce a high operating frequency due to low stiffness of the
structure (to allow it to be driven by piezo-actuators) and hence natural frequency.

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Mechanical Actuation Methods
 The relative 2D vibration between the cutting tool and the workpiece is actually an
elliptical motion.
 Therefore instead of applying vibration on both directions at the same time, an alternative
is to aim straight at the elliptic trajectory instead of trying to achieving vibrations on two
directions.
 Moriwak et al. executed this idea by applying the double-spindle mechanism and using
two separate set of AC servomotors together with eccentric sleeves to generate an
elliptical locus of the tool shank, as shown in Fig.
 CASE STUDY—DEVELOPMENT OF A NONRESONANT
VAMILL SYSTEM AND MACHINING EXPERIMENTS
VAMILL System Development
 The stage has two layers of flexible hinges. The inner layer flexible hinges guide the vibration
in the x direction, while the outer layer flexible hinges guide the vibration in the y direction.
 The outer and inner parts are combined with each other so that the vibration can transform
effectively.

Structure of the vibration stage

Control System Design and Vibration Test
 The control signals, are set by a host computer and amplified through a high voltage piezo-
amplifier, and then are used to drive the piezo-actuators.
 Meanwhile, the stage displacement data is fed back to the host computer through data
acquisition cards for recording.

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 Prior to installation of the vibration stage, its performance is tested on a metrology
table as shown in Fig.

 A modular capacitive sensor system (DL6220, Microepsilon) and two capacitive sensors
(CS005, Microepsilon) with 1 nm resolution and 50 μm measuring range are used to measure
the displacement in both directions

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 Experiment Verification
 The VAM experiments were performed on a three-axis precision milling machine tool
(NANOWAVE MTS5R).
 The machine tool is equipped with three precision linear stages which are driven by DC
servomotors with smallest feed of 0.1 μm, and a high speed spindle which can work from
5000 to 80,000 rpm.

(A) Micromilling machine tool with vibration-

assisted system.

(B) Chips from vibration-assisted machining.

(C) Chips from conventional machining.

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 The machined results with and without the externally applied vibration are shown in Fig

(A) Burrs in machined surface without

vibration.

(B) Burr in machined surface with vibration

applied in x direction.

(C) Burr in machined surface with vibration

applied in x and y direction.

(D) Burr in machined surface with vibration

applied in y direction.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS
 As a nontraditional high efficiency machining method, VAM has found successful
applications in turning, grinding, and drilling.

 The advantage of VAM, such as low cutting forces, long tool life, high surface integrity, and
excellent cutting accuracy, are also applicable to VAMILL.

 Fundamental studies on the material removal mechanisms of difficult-to machine materials

are limited. The machining physics and mechanics are unclear for VAMILL.

 Finite element simulation should be carried out to investigate those issues.

 Compared with vibration-assisted turning processes, the VAMILL process is more complex.

 Tool tip trajectory, instantaneous uncut chip thickness, dynamic cutting forces, VAM duty
cycle, microtool wear, etc. are difficult to determine, so that accurate kinematic and
dynamic models are needed to guide the VAMILL.
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