Characteristics of chip generation by ultrasonic vibration cutting with extremely low cutting velocity

Recently, mirror-surface machining of brittle materials such as ferrite, glass, and optical plastics has become more important, as these materials are used in optical communications and precision devices. Non-ferrous metals such as aluminium and copper were readily turned with diamond tools, but as the need for both infra-red and reflective optics escalated, the need to machine brittle materials arose. In this paper, ultrasonic vibration cutting at 20 kHz at extremely low cutting velocity for the precision machining of brittle plastics used for optical lenses is suggested and tested. The mechanism of chip generation, and characteristics of surfaces in the ductile mode, machined by ultrasonic vibration cutting are investigated. As a result, when micro cutting by ultrasonic vibration, it was confirmed that the chips generated by ductile mode cutting are obtained at 1/40 of the critical cutting velocity of the ultrasonic vibration cutting system, which is an extremely low cutting velocity.