Machinability of Zirconia Ceramics in Ultrasonic Drilling

Abstract

Abstract Zirconia is a typical hard and brittle ceramic material, while its fracture toughness is several times higher than alumina. The use of this advanced ceramic is growing. Machining is often required for quality control of the ceramic component. However, extremely high hardness causes serious problems in conventional machining. Nontraditional ultrasonic machining offers an advantageous alternative. The present work investigates the machinability of zirconia ceramics using ultrasonic drilling. The material removal rate, hole clearance, surface roughness, and tool wear are studied by varying static load and amplitude. The material is removed at several cubic millimeters per minute with 0.5 micrometers average surface roughness. Optimal machining conditions was established with the above performance indices.