The utilization of various energy sources to assist the machining process has become prominent to achieve substantial improvement in machining performance. These energy sources have also resulted in an alternative to cutting fluids which is safer for both the universe and human beings. The combined action of laser and ultrasonic vibration energies during the turning process has shown significant achievement in machining process capabilities. Therefore, an attempt has been made to provide ultrasonic vibration in the radial direction and laser to preheat aluminium 3003 alloy simultaneously during the ultrasonic-vibration-laser assisted turning (UVLAT) process. Machining performance has been analyzed in terms of machining forces, machining temperature, chip morphology, surface damage, and surface roughness. A comparative machining performance analysis has been carried out among the conventional turning (CT), laser assisted turning (LAT), ultrasonic vibration assisted turning (UVAT), and UVLAT processes. The outcomes of the current study indicate significant benefits of the UVLAT process on the machining performance of aluminium 3003 alloy. However, surface damage and surface roughness have been affected negatively during the UVLAT process due to the pin-point hammering and particle adhesion on the workpiece part. Hence, the selection of vibration direction is a critical factor during the vibration machining processes.
Surface integrity of the machined surface is an important aspect considering their surface alterations, metallurgical effects, and mechanical characteristics during the machining process. Industries have been seeking a capable machining technology that can improve the machining process capabilities especially in an eco-friendly manner. Hybrid machining processes have shown significant improvement in machining performance when compared with the conventional turning (CT) process without using any cutting fluids. Moreover, a recently developed hybrid machining technology, that is, ultrasonic-vibration-laser assisted turning (UVLAT) has shown better machinability than the CT process. Therefore, an attempt has been made to improve the surface integrity of aluminum 3003 alloy in terms of machining forces, surface roughness, surface damage, microstructure, microhardness, residual stresses, and corrosion behavior during the UVLAT process. A comparative surface integrity analysis has been performed among the CT, ultrasonic vibration assisted turning (UVAT), laser assisted turning (LAT), and UVLAT processes. Significant improvement in the surface integrity has been observed for the aluminum 3003 alloy during the UVLAT process in comparison to the CT, UVAT, and LAT processes. The periodic separation of the cutting tool and thermal softening of the workpiece material, simultaneously during the UVLAT process is the possible reason for the improvement in surface integrity. Results demonstrated that the UVLAT process has an excellent potential to enhance the surface integrity of aluminum alloys and is better than the CT, UVAT, and LAT processes.
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