Systematic Study of Ultrasonic Vibration Assisted Electron Beam Irradiation Process

Large area electron beams (EBs) have recently been successfully used to machine dies and tool steels. This large area EB process can greatly improve the machined surface quality as well as its corrosion resistance. However, some craters would still exist on the machined surface, which limits the further improvement of the surface quality of the machined workpieces. One possible solution is to apply external forces to workpieces by using high-frequency vibrations to smooth craters during melting and solidification in the EB process. In this study, a vibration system is designed to generate a high-frequency vibration with a certain amplitude by using sound wave’s transfer inside solids. Then, the performance of the designed vibration system is evaluated. Finally, the experiments of the vibration assisted EB process are carried out to verify the performance of assisted vibration in the EB process.