5. Summary

5.1 Ultrasonic machining

Ultrasonic abrasion machining is not yet widely used in industry. Its use is restricted to a few sectors where it is indispensable:

• drilling or machining of ceramic substrates for electronics ;

• machining and cutting of glass, quartz, silica, etc., to make sensors for space research;

• gemstone drilling for watchmaking...

This low level of use is due to the low machining speed, which condemns the process to most mass production applications. For example, it can drill ceramic plates a hundred times more slowly than the laser, but its advantage is better quality and the ability to simultaneously produce non-through...