Manufacture with Pulsed-Electric Mechano-Vibratory Machining

制造高端零件需要加工难加工的材料，这是相当具有挑战性的。迄今为止，改进加工工艺的研究涉及：(a)改进具有过多涂层或几何特征的工具；或;(b)通过使用冷却剂和/或改变加工速度来调整加工中的热机械特性。通过无休止的优化循环，该行业已经达到了它的极限。我们需要探索完全不同的途径来改善这一过程。在这里，我们探索了一种混合加工工艺，其中高密度直流电流通过以非常高的频率振动的工具输送到被加工的材料。这种电振动加工工艺在导电材料（基本上是航空航天和能源工业中使用的所有金属和合金）中是有效的。通过消除对环境有害的冷却剂的需要，这种独特的加工过程将大大降低加工力，提高零件的完整性，并使整个加工过程更便宜。最后，研究将以开发下一代廉价工具为目标进行优化制造。这种独特的加工原型将被设计、开发并安装在现有的数控机床上，以测试加工相关材料的功效。加工研究将在工业相关的加工条件下进行。将与当前实践进行比较，以获得最佳加工结果。预计新的制造技术将显著提高英国制造业的生产率，因为该概念可以适用于其他加工工艺，如钻孔、铣削和锯切；导电材料的连接工艺，如振动焊接和可能的超声波添加剂制造。

Manufacturing of high-end parts requires machining of difficult-to-cut materials which is rather challenging. To date, research into improving the machining process deal with either (a) improving tooling with a plethora of coatings or geometric features; or; (b) tweaking the thermo-mechanical characteristics in machining, with the use of coolants and/or varying the machining speed. Through endless cycles of optimisation, the industry has reached its limit of what is possible. We need to explore radically different routes to improve this process.Here, we explore a hybrid machining process where high-density DC current is delivered to the material being machined via a tool which is vibrating at very high frequencies. This electro-vibratory machining process will be effective in electrically conductive materials (which is essentially all metals and alloys which are used in the aerospace and energy industry). Such a unique machining process will allow for significantly reduced machining forces, improve part integrity in service and make the overall machining process much cheaper, by eliminating the need for environmentally harmful coolants. Finally, research will be conducted with the aim of developing next-generation inexpensive tools for optimal manufacture.This unique machining prototype will be designed, developed and installed on an existing CNC machine to test the efficacy of machining relevant materials. Machining studies will be conducted at industrially relevant machining conditions. Comparisons will be drawn with current practice for best machining outcomes. It is expected that the new manufacturing technique will significantly improve productivity in the UK manufacturing context, as the concept can be adapted to other machining processes such as drilling, milling and sawing; joining processes such as vibration welding and possibly ultrasonic additive manufacture of materials which are electrically conductive.