Research on Design and FE Simulations of Novel Ultrasonic Circular Saw Blade (UCSB) Cutting Tools for Rotary Ultrasonic Machining of Nomex Honeycomb Composites

Due to low density, very thin cell walls and hexagonal cell structure, nomex honeycomb composites are considered as difficult to machine materials. CNC machining is the most common method used for the cutting of nomex honeycomb composites but required machining qualities of the nomex honeycomb composites components are not satisfactory due to various machining defects. Therefore, a new nontraditional machining technology rotary ultrasonic machining has been introduced to overcome the machining problems of nomex honeycomb composites because of intermittent contact of cutting tool with workpiece, low cutting force and better machining quality. In this research, a novel Ultrasonic Circular Saw Blade (UCSB) cutting tool and Ultrasonic Circular Knife (UCK) Cutting Tool are introduced and designed for ultrasonic machining of nomex honeycomb composites. Impact of different structural parameters of UCK and UCSB cutting tools on resonant frequency is investigated by FE simulations modal analysis technique on ANSYS workbench. Designs of cutting tools are verified by comparing FE simulations with experimental results and it showed that the resonant frequency and amplitude of cutting tools are good enough to perform rotary ultrasonic machining of nomex honeycomb composites.