Analytical model of cutting force in axial ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling in-situ TiB₂/7050Al PRMMCs

Ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling has been widely applied in machining the difficult-to-cut materials owing to the remarkable improvements in reducing the cutting force. However, analytical models to reveal the mechanism and predict the cutting force of ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling metal matrix composites are still needed to be developed. In this paper, an analytical model of cutting force was established for ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling in-situ TiB₂/7050Al metal matrix composites. During modeling, change of motion of the cutting tool, contact of tool-chip-workpiece and acceleration of the chip caused by ultrasonic vibration was considered based on equivalent oblique cutting model. Meanwhile, material properties, tool geometry, cutting parameters and vibration parameters were taken into consideration. Furthermore, the developed analytical force model was validated with and without ultrasonic vibration milling experiments on in-situ TiB₂/7050Al metal matrix composites. The predicted cutting forces show to be consistent well with the measured cutting forces. Besides, the relative error of instantaneous maximum forces between the predicted and measured data is from 0.4% to 15.1%. The analytical model is significant for cutting force prediction not only in ultrasonic-vibration assisted milling but also in conventional milling in-situ TiB₂/7050Al metal matrix composites, which was proved with general applicability.