*Article* **Study on the Material Removal Mechanism of Ultrasonic Elliptical Vibration Cutting of Medical** β **Titanium Alloy**

**Zhenda Wang <sup>1</sup> , Yongzhi Pan <sup>1</sup> , Yijia Zhang <sup>1</sup> , Xiuhua Men <sup>1</sup> , Xiuli Fu 1,\* and Shengfeng Ren 1,2**


**Abstract:** For new medical β titanium implants, the surface micro texture processing technology is a difficult problem. To solve this problem, a new method of ultrasonic elliptical vibration cutting (UEVC) is adopted in this paper. The mechanism of material removal in ultrasonic elliptical vibration cutting is explored for different cutting paths. By means of simulation and experimentation, the material removal mechanism of ultrasonic elliptical vibration cutting medical β titanium alloy is revealed with respect to the aspects of cutting deformation, stress distribution, force and thermal variation, and chip formation mechanism. The results show that: (1) The cutting temperature and cutting force in the UEVC process obey the law of periodic change, and the maximum point of cutting force appears ahead of the maximum point of cutting temperature. (2) The material removal process of UEVC is a "press–shear–pull" composite cutting process. The tool squeezes the material to form the chips. Under the action of high temperature, the material is removed by adiabatic shear. (3) The difference of UEVC paths will affect the removal mode of materials and form different surface morphology. (4) For different cutting paths, compressive stress is distributed at the lowest point of the machining pit, and tensile stress is distributed at the protrusion position.

**Keywords:** medical β titanium alloy; ultrasonic elliptical vibration cutting; composite cutting process; material removal mechanism
