Experimental Study and finite element simulation of Cylindrical-conical-cylindrical horns with Circular cross-section: Application on ultrasonic vibrations Sliding friction process.

When two bodies slide on each other, friction is created. By superposing ultrasonic oscillation to one of the bodies, the friction force is reduced. This phenomenon is widely used in metal forming and metal cutting. For the production and transmission of ultrasonic vibrations to a target it is necessary to use an ultrasonic system, the components of which are a generator, a transducer and a horn. Horn constitutes an important part of the Ultrasonic systems. The main task of the horn is to transmit the ultrasonic vibrations and amplify the ultrasonic vibration amplitude at the output. In this study, an Aluminum horn was designed in cylindrical-conical-cylindrical shape geometry and analyzed by the finite-element method(FEM), and manufactured using the Abaqus software. The resonance frequency obtained in Abaqus was equal to 19976 Hz. The resonance frequency obtained from the generator was equal to 19920 Hz. Hence very good agreement exists between the experimental result and the FEM simulation. The difference between the finite element simulation results and the experimental ones is less than one percent. Moreover, a horn--workpiece assembly for applying the ultrasonic sliding friction was designed and manufactured. Then the fixture and the tool holder clamp were designed for the vibrating tool so that it can be installed on a milling machine and the friction force measurement is possible while the ultrasonic vibrations are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]