Evaluation of Rheological Properties of Gel Abrasive in Magnetic Abrasive Finishing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was aimed at the evaluation of the mechanism of magnetic finishing with gel abrasive (MFGA), during which the performance of MFGA was compared to that of magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF). Of importance is that MFGA performs better than MAF based on the polishing-efficiency criterion. Silicone gels, however, are semisolid polymer gels with deforming properties that are temperature dependent, ultimately influencing significantly the polishing efficiency in MFGA. Therefore, taking as examples cylindrical rods which were polished using silicone gels with different plasticities to determine the corresponding temperatures of abrasive media in the working area, this study evaluated the MFGA mechanism to elucidate the properties of silicone gels and attain both the finished effect and effective gel abrasives in MFGA to produce a highly efficient polished surface. Next, circulating effects of abrasive media were identified to ensure the efficiency in MFGA and establish the relation between the concentrations of abrasive media and circulating effects in the working area. Experimental results show that silicone gels with low plasticity produce high temperature of abrasive media in MFGA; high temperature of abrasive medium makes excellent circulating effects in the working area, inducing high material removal and fine surface roughness.

Elucidating the Rheological Effect of Gel Abrasives in Magnetic Abrasive Finishing

“…Surface roughness reduction in MFGA was 3 times of surface roughness reduction in MAF with using the un-bonded magnetic abrasive as medium; hence, gel abrasive plays an important role in this method. In addition, Wang et al [12] utilized silicone gels with different plasticity to determine the temperatures of abrasive media in the working area, the results show that silicone gels with low plasticity produce high temperature of abrasive media in MFGA; high temperature of abrasive medium makes excellent circulating effects in the working area, inducing high material removal and fine surface roughness. However, there are different gels can apply as abrasive media in MFGA, but no study has investigated the functions of different gels in finishing process.…”

Study on magnetorheological nano-polishing using low-frequency alternating magnetic field

“…With the development of electronics and optical industry, the high-quality and high-efficiency polishing technologies of flat and curved surfaces are in high demand. 1,2 Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a flexible polishing technology in which material is removed by mutual friction between the workpiece surface and the hardened MR fluid in the presence of a magnetic field. MRF is regarded as a high-quality, non-damage, ultra-precision polishing process based on viscoplastic MR polishing tool.…”