Investigations on the effect of ultrasonic vibration on fibre fracture and removal mechanism in cutting of fibre reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites

To clarify the effectiveness of ultrasonic vibration-assisted cutting (UVAC) technology for improving the surface quality of FRCMCs-SiC, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of fibre fracture and removal mechanism of UVAC. The paper focuses on the feasibility and effect of UVAC technology on improving the machined surface quality of FRCMCs-SiC combining finite element model (FEM). The results show that applying ultrasonic vibration (UV) along the cutting direction, whether in the micro brittle fracture regime or the macro brittle fracture regime, is beneficial to reduce the cutting force, the machined surface roughness and the depth of the subsurface damage. When UV is applied perpendicular to the cutting direction, it can promote fibre fracture in the macro brittle fracture regime and reduce the depth of the subsurface damage, but deteriorate the machined surface quality in the micro brittle fracture regime.