Machining Mechanism of CoCrFeNiAlX High Entropy Alloys via Ultrasonic Elliptical Vibration Cutting

Abstract This study investigates the micro-cutting mechanism of CoCrFeNiAl X high entropy alloys, focusing on the impact of amplitude, vibration frequency, cutting depth, and the Al element content. The mechanical response of the material is analyzed using simulation methods for both conventional cutting and ultrasonic elliptical vibration assisted cutting (UEVAC). The results show that under different vibration parameters and cutting depth, the cutting temperature produced by UEVAC is significantly higher than that of conventional cutting temperature. When the Y -axis amplitude is reduced from 90 μ m to 30 μ m, the cutting temperature is reduced by 50%. In addition, the cutting temperature is positively correlated with the Al content, and when the molar ratio is 20%, the cutting temperature is about 2.1 times that of 13%. While keeping the cutting parameters unchanged, the cutting force generated by UEVAC is significantly reduced compared to conventional cutting. It is worth noting that when the X -axis amplitude is 40 μ m, the Y -axis amplitude is 90 μ m, and the vibration frequency is 25 KHz, the cutting force of UEVAC is the smallest, which is only about 13% of the conventional cutting force. With the increase of the mole ratio of aluminum in the high entropy alloy, when the mole ratio of aluminum increases from 0% to 13%, the cutting force begins to decrease by about 33%. However, when the molar ratio increases from 13% to 20%, the cutting force increases by about 214%. On the surface of the workpiece (within the range of 0–3 μ m from the machining surface), the residual stress generated by UEVAC is mainly manifested as compressive stress or tensile stress, which is significantly less than the residual stress generated by conventional cutting. The relation of residual compressive stress of workpiece under different aluminum content is Al 1 > Al 0.6 > Al 0 .