INVESTIGATION ON CAVITATION-BASED TECHNIQUE TO REMOVE MATERIAL AT MICRO/NANOLEVEL TO GENERATE TEXTURED SURFACE

Surface texturing is emerging as one of the promising techniques for improving tribological properties of the surface of engineering components. Surface texturing can significantly improve the wear resistance and friction coefficient. Even though there are numerous techniques available to generate microlevel texturing on the surface, this study addresses the possibility of using the energy released during the implosion of a cavitation bubble to remove the material from the workpiece surface to generate micro/nanolevel-textured surface. An ultrasonic probe made of titanium alloy with a 6[Formula: see text]mm diameter with a maximum frequency of 20[Formula: see text]kHz with a power rating of 130[Formula: see text]W was used to generate the cavitation bubble in this study. Three process parameters such as a gap between the ultrasonic probe and the workpiece, duration of exposure of the cavitation process, and pH value of the solution were selected. The machining capability of the cavitation-based material removal process was evaluated based on the surface roughness and material removal rate (MRR). A full factorial experimental design was adopted with three levels for each process parameter selected for this study. ANOVA analysis was adopted to find out the significance of each parameter on the desired output. Finally, TOPSIS optimization techniques were employed to determine the optimum parameter setting in order to achieve the minimum surface finish and maximum MRR.