Process capability

1. Can Machine work piece harder than 40 HRC to 60 HRC like carbides, ceramics, tungsten glass that cannot be machined by conventional methods

2. Tolerance range 7 micron to 25 microns

3. Holes up to 76 micron have been drilled hole depth upto 51mm have been achieved easily. Hole depth of 152mm deep is achieved by special flushing techniques.

4. Aspect ratio 40:1 has been achieved

5. Linear material removal rate -0.025 to 25mm/min

6. Surface finish -0.25 micron to 0.75 micron

7. Non directional surface texture is possible compared to conventional grinding

8. Radial over cut may be as low as 1.5 to 4 times the mean abrasive grain size.

Applications

1. Machining of cavities in electrically non-conductive ceramics

2. Used to machine fragile components in which otherwise the scrap rate is high

3. Used for multistep processing for fabricating silicon nitride (Si3N4) turbine blades

4. Large number of holes of small diameter. 930 holes with 0.32mm has been  reported ( Benedict, 1973) using hypodermic needles

5. Used for machining hard, brittle metallic alloys, semiconductors, glass, ceramics, carbides etc.

6. Used for machining round, square, irregular shaped holes and surface impressions.

7. Used in machining of dies for wire drawing, punching and blanking operations

8. USM can perform machining operations like drilling, grinding and milling operations on all materials which can be treated suitably with abrasives.

9. USM has been used for piercing of dies and for parting off and blanking operations.

10. USM enables a dentist to drill a hole of any shape on teeth without any pain

11. Ferrites and steel parts , precision mineral stones can be machined using USM

12. USM can be used to cut industrial diamonds

13. USM is used for grinding Quartz, Glass, ceramics

14.Cutting holes with curved or spiral centre lines and cutting threads in glass and mineral or metallo-ceramics