A methodology for determining the maximal regular-shaped dexterous workspace (MRsDW) of parallel manipulators (PMs) is proposed. The MRsDW is the maximal subset of the dexterous workspace with prescribed dexterity, and has a regular shape such as a circle or rectangle for the planar and a cuboid or cylinder for the spatial situation. It is one of the objects of optimal design of the PMs while the workspace size and shape are considered. The concept of the utilizable ratio of dexterous workspace (URDW) is introduced, which is a new measure for the rationality of design parameters of a PM. The methodology based on the stratified workspace boundary search technique can determine both the dexterous workspace and their MRsDW. After the problem of determination of the MRsDW is defined formally, a numerical method is proposed to solve this problem by three algorithms. Finally, the validity and efficiency of the proposed method are verified through application of the 2-DOF planar PM and the linear delta robot.

In order to improve surface polishing quality and efficiency for hard and brittle components, a novel nozzle with specifically designed shroud was proposed for an abrasive jet polishing process. The removal mechanism of the abrasive jet under such a nozzle was investigated by simulating the jet flow in the interaction area of the nozzle shroud and workpiece. The simulation results show that the speed of the abrasive jet increases greatly by the shroud and the direction of the jet is aligned near parallel to the workpiece surface to minimize impact damage to workpiece surface. The constrained abrasive jet polishing (CAJP) experiments were conducted on the quartz glass component, a typical hard and brittle material, showing that the material removal mainly relied on the shearing and scratching of the workpiece surface rather than the mechanical shock impacts, which is consistent with the simulation findings.

To address the issue of uneven pressure distribution in the abrasive flow field within the inner hole of components with a large depth/diameter ratio, an adaptive control strategy for regulating flow field pressure difference is proposed in this paper. The strategy was based on the effects of pressure fluctuations at the abrasive flow inlet and outlet on pressure distribution patterns and pressure changes within the inner hole flow field, as derived from numerical simulations. An adaptive control fixture was also designed, enabling dynamic adjustments to the fixture gap, which significantly reduced the pressure difference in the flow field. Experimental results demonstrated that the surface texture uniformity of the inner hole was greatly improved after adaptive control. The non-uniformity in surface roughness after control was 59.1% lower compared to pre-control conditions, indicating improved machining consistency. Furthermore, the maximum reduction in surface roughness increased from 1.146 μm to 1.844 μm, and processing efficiency was notably enhanced.

In conventional band sawing, the long-span compression of the flexible saw blade often results in large fluctuations in cutting force, low cutting efficiency, and poor force predictability. To address these issues, this study investigates the dynamic cutting force modeling and experimental validation of ultrasonic vibration-assisted band sawing using 304 stainless steel as the workpiece material. Based on an analysis of the band sawing mechanism, an ultrasonic vibration-assisted approach is proposed to modify the contact conditions between the saw blade and the workpiece. A dynamic model of the saw blade is established using the string vibration equation, and a multi-tooth dynamic cutting force prediction model is further developed by incorporating variable cutting depth characteristics under ultrasonic vibration. Comparative experiments are conducted between conventional sawing and ultrasonic vibration-assisted sawing to validate the proposed model. At feed rates of 0.1–0.4 mm/s and preload values of 0.1–0.5 mm, the proposed model predicts dynamic cutting forces with good agreement to experimental results, achieving an average relative error of 5.44%. Under typical cutting conditions for difficult-to-machine materials, ultrasonic vibration-assisted sawing reduces the average cutting force and feed force by approximately 15% and 18%, respectively, while decreasing surface roughness along the feed direction by about 21%, thereby improving sawing efficiency and surface quality.