Chatter suppression in diamond turning using magnetic field assistance

During diamond turning of difficult-to-cut materials in ultra-precision machining, the self-excited vibration (i.e., chatter) is a severe problem that reduces the machining quality of workpieces and accelerates tool wear. In this work, a magnetic field-assisted cutting strategy is developed to suppress chatter during diamond turning of titanium alloys. Considering the radius of the tool nose and the process damping force, the stability of the diamond turning system is investigated. Based on that, the improvement effect of the magnetic field on the system's stability through the eddy current damping effect is analyzed. Diamond-turning experiments with and without magnetic field assistance are carried out under various cutting conditions. The experimental results, which include cutting forces, frequency spectra correlating to the cutting forces, and surface morphologies, indicate that the magnetic field assistance successfully suppresses chatter during diamond turning. The machined surface quality of the workpiece is improved.