Cutting Force Prediction and Experiment Verification of Paper Honeycomb Materials by Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Machining

The disc-cutter is a finishing tool for the ultrasonic-cutting of paper honeycomb-core material. The cutting state directly affects the machining accuracy and surface quality of the workpiece. The cutting force is an important physical quantity and the cause of ultrasonic cutting defects of the honeycomb-core material. Due to differences in the mechanical properties and cutting performance of honeycomb-core materials and commonly used metal materials, existing metal-cutting-force models cannot be applied to the calculation of ultrasonic cutting forces in the processing of honeycomb-core materials. In response to this problem—combined with actual working conditions using the ABAQUS finite element analysis software—a finite element simulation model of the ultrasonic vibration-assisted cutting force of the disc-cutter on the honeycomb-core material was established, and the cutting curves and values were obtained. The experiment of ultrasonic vibration cutting of the disc-cutter proves that from the surface morphology of the honeycomb core, the milling-width has the greatest influence on the cutting force, and the cutting-depth has the smallest influence on the cutting force. The maximum error between the cutting force experimental results and the finite element simulation results under the same cutting conditions was 13.2%, which means that the established cutting-force finite element model is more accurate and can be used to predict the cutting in honeycomb ultrasonic vibration-assisted cutting-force value. Finally, based on the response surface method, a three-dimensional cutting force prediction model of the ultrasonic cutting honeycomb core of the disc-cutter was established by using the simulation model data. The results of this study can provide a useful basis for the improvement of cutting performance and processing efficiency in the processing of paper honeycomb-core materials.