Hardness Effects on Abrasive Flow Machining

Abstract

Abrasive flow machining (AFM) is a manufacturing technique that uses the flow of a pressurized abrasive media to remove workpiece material. In comparison with other polishing technique, AFM is very efficient, suitable for the finishing of complex inner surfaces. In this paper, the effect of workpiece hardness on the AFM process has been investigated. An experimental study was carried out on AISI D2 tool steel hardened to 31, 45 and 55 HRC. The specimens were cut by using wire electro discharge machining (WEDM) and then finished with AFM. The results show that the white layer formed during WEDM is successfully removed by AFM in a few cycles. Although the surface quality is improved by AFM for all hardness groups, the results show that harder materials have more surface improvement than the softer ones.

Deterministic Mathematical Modelling of Platform Performance Degradation in Cyclic Operation Regimes

“…3a and b, the unaffected surface decreases with the increasing number of operations. This decrease is more or less similar to the experimental results of surface roughness decrease, presented experimentally in [1]. This paper has shown similar surface effects as our model.…”

“…This paper has shown similar surface effects as our model. Paper [1] also reported significant changes in the first 20 operations (so-called cycles in [1] and [2]) and the gradual reaching of a saturated level. The result shown in Fig.…”

“…Experiments in [1], developed for surface roughness, have shown that the roughness decreased slightly after 50 operating cycles. Comparative considerations about similarities of surfaces affecting processes, shown in Fig.…”

“…A majority of the published papers use a standard approach to the measured performances that depend on the machine's designed purposes. Such processes are described in [1] to [3] for the abrasive flow machines (AFM) with which material is hardened by randomly treating the working surface with abrasive particles with polymeric fillers, and dispersed within the flow media. The authors of [1] classified the work piece parameters into three groups based, among others, on the number of cycles (operations) and the machining time.…”

“…Such processes are described in [1] to [3] for the abrasive flow machines (AFM) with which material is hardened by randomly treating the working surface with abrasive particles with polymeric fillers, and dispersed within the flow media. The authors of [1] classified the work piece parameters into three groups based, among others, on the number of cycles (operations) and the machining time. Some of these parameters were determined experimentally in [2], in which the authors recognized that the parameters denoted as the creeping time and the cycles frequency have impact on the quality of the machining process.…”