Effect of air pressure in ultrasonic machining

• Main Author: Irawan, Hans Patera
• Other Authors: Yeo Swee Hock
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68512
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

To ease the process of machine a brittle materials, ultrasonic machining is used as an alternative. Ultrasonic machining process is suitable for brittle materials mainly because it does not involve direct contact with the surface of the materials. However, the process has a very slow material removal process, compared to normal machining or drilling processes. That is why improvement has been made for the process of ultrasonic machining that will increase the material removal rate. One of variables that have been investigated is the condition of ambient pressure during the process of the ultrasonic machining. According to previous studies, it was found that ambient pressure affect the removal rate of the cavitation happened in ultrasonic machining. Hence, the main objective of this project was to found out the effect ambient pressure changes for the cavitation process. This project would approach the experiment by conducting the cavitation process through a set of different pressure conditions. In the early stage of the experiment, the author measured the initial weight of the specimen. Next, the process would be conducted inside a vacuum chamber, which is exposed to ambient pressure that is higher than atmospheric pressure. Finally, after measuring the weight of the specimen post-processing, the author would be able to determine the weight loss.