Experimental investigation on surface quality in ultrasonic-assisted honing of 304 stainless steel

Abstract Honing is a surface finishing technology, which plays an important role in improving the surface quality and working performance of workpieces. However, with the extensive application of hard-to-machine materials and the increasing requirement for the surface properties of workpieces, the performance of conventional honing (CH) is becoming more and more difficult to meet the production needs. The ultrasonic vibration provides a way to overcome the technological constraints of CH and improve the machined surface properties. To realise the ultrasonic vibration of honing stone, a slotted block horn was used as a vibration transmission component and a supporting component of honing stone in this study. Finite element method was used to analyse and optimise the block horn to improve the uniformity of the amplitude on the output surface, to provide stable and efficient vibration for the honing stone. In this study, the effects of processing parameters on surface roughness in CH and ultrasonic-assisted honing (UAH) of stainless steel SUS304 were studied. The results indicated that the application of ultrasonic vibration in honing made a significant contribution to the formation of a dense punctiform morphology and reduction of the defects of the workpiece surface. Moreover, interactions between ultrasonic vibration, speed of revolution, and honing time in UAH make the changes of surface roughness much different from the CH. On the whole, for UAH, it is a feasible approach to improve the surface roughness by using a smaller amplitude, increasing the speed of revolution appropriately, and extending honing time.