Experimental investigation on magnesium AZ31B alloy during ultrasonic vibration assisted turning process

Magnesium alloys generate harmful emissions while using coolants during the machining process and it affects both the operator and the environment. Ultrasonic vibration assisted turning (UVAT) is an eco-friendly and advanced machining process to machine various materials than conventional turning (CT). In this study, experimental analysis is carried out to investigate the machinability of the magnesium AZ31B alloy during CT and UVAT processes. The effect of cutting speed during the processing of magnesium AZ31B alloy is analyzed and compared with CT in terms of machining forces, machining temperature, tool wear, chip morphology, surface roughness, microstructure, and microhardness. Results showed that compared with CT, machining forces and surface roughness is reduced significantly in UVAT. However, higher machining temperature is obtained during UVAT than CT. Flank wear is observed during CT although negligible tool wear is observed for UVAT. Chip segmentation is obtained for both CT and UVAT whereas higher chip thickness is observed for UVAT than CT process. Finer grains and higher microhardness are obtained in UVAT than the coarse grains and lower microhardness in CT. The results showed that the processing of magnesium AZ31B alloy during the UVAT process leads to enhanced machining performance compared to the CT process.