Synergistic effect of ultrasonic vibration and laser energy during hybrid turning operation in magnesium alloy

Abstract

This article proposes a hybrid turning process that simultaneously exploits the synergy of ultrasonic vibration and laser energy on a single machine tool. The developed process combines the features of ultrasonic vibration-assisted turning (UVAT) and laser-assisted turning (LAT) into a new hybrid turning process, i.e., ultrasonic vibration laser-assisted turning (UVLAT). In this study, the details of the UVLAT process are presented, and an experimental investigation is carried out to analyze the machining performance of magnesium AZ31B alloy during UVLAT and compared with conventional turning (CT), UVAT, and LAT. The analysis shows that low machining forces, high machining temperature, low tool wear, ductile chips, low surface roughness, fine grain microstructure, and high microhardness are obtained during UVLAT in comparison to CT, UVAT, and LAT. Machining forces and surface roughness are increased with an increase in cutting speed, whereas machining temperature and cracks on chip surfaces are reduced. Furthermore, machining forces, cracks on chip surface, surface roughness, and grain structure are decreased with an increase in laser power and vice versa for machining temperature and microhardness. However, insignificant variation in tool wear is observed with increased cutting speed and laser power. Additionally, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis shows negligible irregularities on the machined surface for UVLAT. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis shows no variation in elemental composition for tool face and machined surface among various processes. Results demonstrated that the UVLAT process has an excellent potential to enhance the machining performance of magnesium alloys and is better than CT, UVAT, and LAT.