A Review on Integration of Ultrasonic Vibration in Machining of Difficult-to-Cut Materials

Abstract

This review compiles and analyzes forty-five recent studies exploring ultrasonic-assisted turning, milling, drilling, grinding, and hybrid techniques across diverse industries, including aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and energy. Each study is evaluated based on material type, machine setup, input parameters, and key output responses such as tool wear, surface integrity, delamination, and cutting temperature. The review highlights substantial improvements in machinability metrics but also reveals critical limitations, including scalability issues, lack of adaptive control, limited economic assessments, and insufficient long-term tool wear analysis. The paper concludes with research gaps in real-time adaptive control systems in ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining and proposes future directions for integrating intelligent control systems, AI-driven optimization, and sustainable UVAM solutions compatible with Industry 4.0 environments.