The introduction of ultrasonic vibration into typical material processing can solve the problem that traditional processing is difficult to overcome. In view of the variety of ultrasonic vibration machining methods and the complexity of surface micro-structures, the main contents and research status of surface micro-structures have been described. The machining principle of ultrasonic cutting, ultrasonic grinding and ultrasonic surface strengthening and the experimental research methods of surface micro-structure characteristics in ultrasonic machining have been discussed. The modeling methods and characteristics of surface roughness and surface micro-topography under ultrasonic vibration are summarized. The research progress of experimental modeling, numerical analysis modeling and neural network modeling have been expounded. Finally, the new technology fields and development tendency of ultrasonic vibration surface processing technology at domestic and foreign are predicted, which is of great significance to improve the surface micro-structure characteristics of high-performance and difficult-to-machine materials.