Agricultural residues are the most abundant biomass and forage resources. Chopping is a precondition for either use, and reducing the shearing force has been considered as one of the most effective way to save energy. A smaller force can also permit more compact mechanical parts of chopping devices. In several cases, power consumption may be large, even when the shearing force is small, if the corresponding cutting velocity is high. Consequently, it is important to minimize both cutting force and power consumption simultaneously. This paper presents a practical approach to solve the multi-objective optimization problem for chopping processes of corn stalks. Applying the Taguchi design of experiments, a plan of 27 chopping tests was conducted. Based on the grey relational grade analysis and analysis of variance technique, optimum levels as well as the percentage contribution of such parameters were identified. Experimental results showed that the multi-response optimization problem in chopping corn stalks can be effectively addressed through the combination of Taguchi design and grey relational analysis. The results can be expanded for practical applications in design and operation of chopping machines for agricultural residues.

This paper presents a new approach to developing the torque model in deep hole drilling, both for conventional and ultrasonic assisted drilling processes. The model was proposed as a sum of three components: the cutting, the chip evacuation and the stick-slip torques. Parameters of the new model were carried out by applying the regression analysis technique, with the correlation values higher than 0.999. The data were collected from 36 experimental dry drilling tests, both in conventional and ultrasonic assisted cutting conditions, with the depth-to-diameter of the drilled holes of 7.5. The major advantage of the new model compared to previous models is that the new model of chip-evacuation torque has only one coefficient, thus making it easier to evaluate and compare different deep-drilling processes. The effectiveness of ultrasonic assistance in deep hole drilling was also highlighted using the proposed model. The new model is promising to predict critical depth and torque in deep hole drilling.

This paper presents an experimental study of the positive effects of vibration-assisted deep drilling of aluminum alloy Al-6061. The four most important evaluation criteria in drilling—machinability, workpiece temperature, torque, and material removal rate—were chosen to be investigated. Holes with a depth-to-diameter ratio of 13 were drilled by high speed steel (HSS) twist drill bits of 3 mm diameter, using both methods of conventional drilling (CD) and ultrasonic-assisted drilling (UAD). Three levels of axial force of 6 kgf, 9 kgf, and 12 kgf were kept constant for each pair of comparison experiments. It was found that workpiece temperature and torque not only changed from one drill to the other, but were also dependent on the hole depth being drilled. Comparisons were made in-pair between CD and UAD under the same axial force and at the same order of hole numbers. The result shows that the material removal rate with UAD was up to 3.5 times higher than that with CD and the average workpiece temperature and torque in UAD were reduced by 3.5 and 6 times, respectively. Moreover, tool life in UAD was observed to increase from 2.5 to 5 times, in terms of number of holes drilled, compared to that in CD.

This paper presents an experimental study to find out an effective parameter which is useful to enhance the progression rate of drifting vibro-impact systems excited by a harmonic force. It is assumed that the system performance would be better if the excitation force stays in a harmonious relationship with the natural motion of the impact mass. This hypothesis has been numerically analyzed and then experimentally verified. The phase lag between the excitation force and the motion of the impact mass is used to identify the best situation, where the system progression rate is maximal. It has been found that the highest progression rate of the system can be obtained when the phase lag is around one-eighth of the excitation period.

Deep hole drilling remains a persistent challenge in both research and industry due to high friction and inadequatechip evacuation, which leads to inefficiencies. This study evaluates the efficiency of deep drilling using ultrasonicvibration-assisted drilling (UAD) by comparing it with conventional drilling (CD), with specific energyconsumption (SEC) as the primary metric derived from torque measurements. Here, SEC is defined as anaccumulated function integrating energy consumption over the entire drilling process, mitigating non-linear andstochastic variations common in deep drilling. Experiments were conducted on Al-6061 aluminum alloy undercontinuous dry drilling conditions, with variations in spindle speed, feed rate, and hole diameter. The resultsdemonstrate that UAD significantly improves drilling efficiency compared to CD. Specifically, the SEC value forUAD was approximately 21.44% to 77.74% lower than that for CD across all experimental conditions. Moreover,with optimized parameters, UAD achieved a 25% increase in material removal rate (MRR) and a 33.4% reductionin SEC compared to CD. These findings highlight UAD’s potential to enhance deep hole drilling efficiency,offering promising applications for industrial machining processes.