The application of ultrasonic vibration assistance in machining offers many benefits over conventional machining. In some machining processes, like the generation of geometrically defined microstructures by cutting, the interaction of the system components and the machining process can be particularly crucial with respect to the production result. Monitoring of ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining in terms of the in-process measurement of frequency and amplitude is currently realized by measurement inside the actuator; thus, measurement is presently undertaken relatively far away from the cutting process. In this paper an in-process measurement set-up based on strain gauges positioned close to the cutting edges is presented. It is used to investigate the induced vibration in the ultrasonic horn. Experiments on machine samples with and without ultrasonic vibration assistance are performed using the in-process measurement set-up described. The results of the strain gauges are analysed in comparison to internal feedback signal and surface measurements. The experiments show the high sensitivity of the measurement set-up presented and a huge gain of information compared with the conventional measurement approach. This enables improved controllability of the excited mode shapes as well as in-process adjustment of the ultrasonic vibration frequency and amplitude for the manufacturing of defined microstructures.

The importance of functional surfaces is continuously growing in the context of increasing demands on the sustainability of performance, resource efficiency and manufacturing costs of technical systems. For example, microstructured substrate surfaces can contribute to enhance the adhesion of layers, which in turn ensure the wear protection of a highly loaded component. Many microstructuring processes require a system change, entailing high costs. However, the ultrasonic vibration superimposed machining (UVSM) can be implemented as a finishing process. Due to its defined cutting-edge geometry and kinematics, UVSM represents a suitable method for a reliable generation of predefined surface microstructures. In order to optimize the process regarding the tool wear behavior and thus the geometrical characteristics of the surface microstructure, experimental investigations are carried out to find the most suitable combination of heat treatment condition of the martensitic stainless-steel X46Cr13 and various cutting materials. A vibration system for workpiece-side excitation is used for the experimental cutting tests. The most promising results were obtained within the combination of cemented carbide as a cutting tool and soft annealing as a heat treatment condition. They serve as a base for extensive investigations on the effects of substrate microstructuring to the adhesion of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond layers to steel.

Magnetostrictive materials are a group of smart materials with comparable properties to piezoelectric materials regarding strain and operating frequency. In contrast, the Curie temperature is much higher and the principle effect allows different actuator designs. Especially in the case of rotating actuators in ultrasonic assisted machining, a high potential is seen for a simplified energy transmission. In the study, a test stand for a rotating actuator with simultaneous vibration in longitudinal direction was designed to show the proof of principle for this idea. It was shown that the current inducing the magnetic field as well as its frequency influence the amplitude of the rotating actuator. This is a first step to developing a rotating actuator for ultrasonic machining.