Design and Implementation of a Mini Ultrasonic Cutting System for Nomex Honeycomb Composites

Abstract

With great heat resistance, corrosion resistance, high specific strength and excellent mechanical properties, nomex honeycomb composites are widely used in aerospace industry. However, due to the special properties of the nomex honeycomb composites, traditional high-speed milling is difficult to complete the processing of the material. The ultrasonic processing method is one of the best ways to solve the above problem. In order to improve the ultrasonic power, the size of the ultrasound system structure is normally very large, which is inconvenient and uneconomical for processing the nomex honeycomb composites. A mini ultrasonic cutting system for paper - based honeycomb material is designed in this paper. Its output amplitude is realized under the condition of small size, and its processing performance is verified by experiments. Based on the theoretical anylysis, the design parameters of the presented mini ultrasonic cutting system were calculated. The resonant frequency, magnification and amplitude of the system were analyzing by simulation and amplitude test. The results showed the system parameters are consistent with the design value. The processing experiments of the honeycomb material indicated the system can effectively reduce the cutting force and improve the surface quality.