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5th International & 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR 2014) December

12th14th, 2014,
IIT Guwahati, Assam, India

ABRASIVE FLOW FINISHING PROCESS - A CASE STUDY

T. S. Kavithaa1, N. Balashanmugam2, P. V. Shashi Kumar3


Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, Bangalore 560 022
kavithaats@cmti-india.net
balashanmugam@cmti-india.net
pvs@cmti-india.net

Abstract

The emergence of Abrasive Flow Finishing/Machining (AFFM) as an advanced fine finishing process
is attributed towards the need for relaxation of tool limitations, relative motion of work piece with
respect to tool and precise finishing of complex geometries and internal passages in components.
Herein, the abrasive laden polymer media conforms to the work piece geometry overcoming shape
limitation inherent in conventional finishing processes. The paper outlines the various functionalities
of the AFFM system developed and the experimentation carried out for finishing and deburring of
modular head of a hip joint, extrusion die and shuttle valve used in bio-medical, aerospace and
pharmaceutical industries respectively are discussed. Surface characterization of the finished
components using optimized process parameters are discussed in detail. The reported results signify
the versatility and deterministic aspect of the developed AFFM machine for surface finishing of
ferrous and non-ferrous components.

Keywords: Abrasive Flow Machining, Roughness, Radiusing, Deburring

1 Introduction study include i. Shuttle valve incorporated in


aircraft emergency systems ii. Die mould designed
Abrasive Flow Finishing Machining (AFFM) for pharmaceutical applications and iii. Aluminium
is a non-conventional finishing process wherein workpiece. Ra, Rz and Rt are the standard
number of cutting edges at randomized orientations parameters for 2D surface analysis. Average
results in material removal with smaller chip sizes roughness Ra denotes the arithmetic average of the
compared to traditional methods. Rhoades (1988) absolute departure of the profile from the reference
Finishing is aided by the hydraulically forced flow line throughout the sampling length. Rz expresses
of shear thickening polymer loaded with definite the sum of the maximum value of profile peak
quantity of abrasives or abrasive mixtures between height and the maximum value of profile valley
two cylinders. The work piece is held in position depth in a sampling length. Rt expresses the sum of
by a fixture designed, engineered and tailor made maximum value of profile peak height and
to suit the specific finishing requirements. Hence, maximum value of profile valley depth on the
AFFM results in better surface finish, tolerances, profile curve in the entire evaluation length. Ra
finishing of complex intricate features in could be used as a reasonable measure for
hard/difficult to machine materials. Jain et al achieving process control in finishing. The
(2003) Rhoades(1987) The technical information roughness measurements were made using
and design specifications on the AFFM system MarSurf-GD25 and the scan length was uniformly
developed by us are reported in detail elsewhere maintained as 5.6 mm. Silicon carbide of various
(4). The present study reiterates the deterministic grit sizes was mixed with the polymeric carrier
aspects of the AFFM process by practical material in all the experiments reported and its
demonstration of the processing capabilities of the weight percentage was maintained as 35%. The
developed system. zero shear viscosity of the polymer used as the
carrier for abrasives was approximately 40000 Pa.s.
2 Experimental Details Experimental reports on nano finishing of
modular head of a hip joint have been discussed
The industrial test specimens taken up for earlier by the authors. A ten-fold decrease in Ra
finishing, radiusing and deburring in the present values (~38 nm) of Co-Cr bio-implants were
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ABRASIVE FLOW FINISHING PROCESS - A CASE STUDY

recorded after AFFM at two different extrusion measurement was done using a Veeco NT9100
pressures. Lower working pressures were Optical profiler which works on the principle of
recommended for achieving better surface finish light interferometry for analysis of surface
which was attributed to the better conformity of the topography and roughness of the finished
polymer abrasive mixture with the component. component.
Balashanmugam et al (2013).
The internal features of a transmission
The material composition of the shuttle valve component can be blended and surface smoothened
used in the present study was a Fe - 15 Cr - 5 Ni by AFFM to allow easier sliding of the two
precipitation hardened stainless steel designated as components in a die assembly. In the present work
AMS 5659 (15-5PH) / ASTM A564. It is one a die mould (od - 30.3mm; id - 15.4mm;
among the primary components in brakes, landing height - 22.5mm) made of die steel of hardness
gear extension, flap extension and canopy release 50HRC was taken up for finishing. The ability of
mechanisms during emergency in an aircraft. Pre- the abrasive laden polymer media to conform to the
finishing operations of the shuttle valve (figure 1a) complex shape of the component aided in finishing
demanded the removal of hard-to-reach burrs at of processing dies. The initial Ra values recorded at
internal cross-hole intersections (figure 1b). three different positions are as shown in figure 2a.
AFFM was operated in the two- way flow
configuration at a hydraulic pressure of 100 bar
using consecutively two media of different grit
sizes of abrasives mixed with the dilatants polymer.
The total cycle time taken for finishing of the die
mould to the required Ra value of 0.1m from an
initial value of 2m was approximately 150
minutes. The die assembly components after AFM
are shown in figures 2 b and c which are indicative
of the quality of surface finish attained.

a b

The burr at the intersection of the cross hole c


was imaged using illumination from a red goose
neck LED. A visual inspection system with a
resolution of 1636*1236 pixel was used for Figure 1 a) Received die mould b) Die moulds after
subsequent imaging and data acquisition software AFM c) Another die mould after AFM
was employed for associated image processing. A
locally designed fixture was fabricated to hold the
shuttle valve between the two vertically opposite AFFM of the aluminum component (figure 3a)
cylinders (figure1c). The AFFM system was was taken up using two grades of media with
operated in one-way flow configuration at100 bar silicon carbide abrasives of variable grit sizes.
hydraulic pressure for ten strokes of the piston with Initial Ra values were recorded at three different
total cycle time of 100 minutes. Radius locations of the disc of thickness 20 mm and an
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5th International & 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR 2014) December 12th14th, 2014,
IIT Guwahati, Assam, India

outer diameter of 220 mm with drillings of 40 mm


diameter as shown in figure 3b. Initially
experiments were conducted on an aluminium 3.2 Surface finishing of a die assembly
component at an operating pressure of 55bar and
the stroke length of the piston was maintained at It is to be noted that the surface roughness
200mm. Further, the AFFM system was operated at values recorded indicate that the reduction ratios at
the same pressure with decreased piston length the three locations are not uniform. It could be
(120mm) to verify the effect of piston stroke length inferred that the initial Ra values recorded before
on the surface finish. machining do not play a significant role in
determining the quality of surface finish after AFF.

The surface roughness measurements carried out


before and after Abrasive Flow Finishing (AFF) of
the die assembly are tabulated below. Surface
roughness of 0.08 m on an average was achieved
against the requirement of 0.1m. It is notable that
more than twenty-fold decrease in surface
roughness values was recorded after 150 minutes of
AFF.

Table 1 Initial and final surface roughness


values of the die assembly

3 Results and Discussion Ra (m)

3.1 Deburring of Shuttle Valve


Component Position Position Position
Since the surface to be characterized included 1 2 3
a curvature, vertical scanning interferometry with
Z-axis range of 10 mm was used for analysis. The Before
2.1452 2.2242 1.902
2-D image of the finished surface and the AFM
corresponding cross sectional profile are shown in
Intermediate
figure 4a and 4b respectively. Figure 4c shows the 0.1338 0.1701 0.1651
finishing
visual inspection image of the cross-hole
intersection of the shuttle valve after deburring at
the intersection of the outlet and inlet ports with After AFM 0.0847 0.0713 0.0864
diameters 3 mm and 8 mm.
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ABRASIVE FLOW FINISHING PROCESS - A CASE STUDY

3.3 Surface finishing of aluminium


work piece The above mentioned results re-emphasize the
versatility of the AFF technique. Further, the
influence of work piece hardness on surface finish
The graphical representations (figure 5) reveal is clearly evident in the case of die assembly made
the surface roughness values recorded at three of die steel and aluminium work piece. Jain et al
locations of the aluminium work piece before and (2000)
after AFF. The decrease in stroke length results in
an increase in the number of cycles. The initial Ra
values recorded at three locations were ~ 0.65 m 4 Conclusions
and those recorded after AFM were ~0.06 m as
depicted in figure 6. Jain et al (2003) Thus decrease The paper highlights the functional capabilities
in stroke length effects increase in the quality of of the developed AFFM system designed for
surface finish. Abbas et al (2014) Davies et al effective nano metric finishing, radiusing and
(1995) Further, it could be observed that the deburring of complex components from bio-
material removal rates are prominent during the medical, pharmaceutical and aerospace industries.
initial cycles and subsequently fine finishing of the The reported results indicate the consistency and
surface occurred. William et al (1989). deterministic aspect of the indigenized version of

Figure 2 Graphical representation of the Surface roughness parameters recorded before and after
intermediate and final AFF

the AFFM system. Rhoades (1985,1988,1991) The


versatility and capability of the system toward
finishing of a broad range of materials as well as
complex/difficult to machine components has been
accomplished and established.

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Director, CMTI for the


support, constant encouragement and
infrastructural facilities extended throughout. The
authors express their sincere thanks to Prof. V. K.
Jain, IIT - Kanpur for his valuable guidance.
Special thanks are due to M/s Imperial
Pharmachines Pvt. Ltd. - Mumbai, M/s Satva Aero
Accessories and Systems Pvt. Ltd. - Bangalore and
Figure 3 Variation in Roughness average (Ra) with M/s Sushrut Adler Pvt. Ltd. - Pune for providing us
number of cycles the industrial components for the present study.

A fifteen fold decrease in surface roughness


values were recorded after AFF at all the three
locations (figure 6).

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5th International & 26th All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR 2014) December 12th14th, 2014,
IIT Guwahati, Assam, India

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assessment of the rheological Conference Proceedings, Ohio, December
characteristics of various 1985, pp. 111-120.
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Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of 107-116.
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operating parameters on the performance 38 (1989), pp. 93-106.

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