Abstract: To make the turbulence intensity of the softness abrasive flow more homogeneous and increase the material remove rate in the finishing process, a technology of softness abrasive flow finishing based on turbulence intensity enhancement using ultrasonic wave is brought forward. The ultrasonic vibration is excited on the abrasive flow in the constrained flow channel to control the regime by the cavitation effect of the ultrasonic wave. An abrasive flow dynamic model considering the coupling of liquid-solid flow and sound field is established and the flow characteristics in the machining processing are numerically investigated. Meanwhile, an ultrasound-enhanced abrasive flow machining experimental platform is investigated experimentally. The results show that more homogeneous velocity field and turbulence energy distribution are obtained in an unsteady numerical simulation. It can be concluded that the turbulence intensity of the softness abrasive flow is effectively enhanced with less dead angle because of the cavitation effect. The ultrasonic vibration can also restrain the excessive machining of the abrasive flow and the roughness can be maintained at about the minimum value without increase again. The machining experiments indicate that softness abrasive flow finishing method can reduce the machining periods about 6 hours. The surface quality is greatly improved and becomes more uniform.

Key words: finishing, turbulent intensity, ultrasonic vibration, softness abrasive flow