Effect of process parameters on change in hardness during magnetic abrasive finishing of stainless steel SS304 using RSM method

Abstract

The tribological behavior of a component depends upon the properties of its constituent material. Hardness is one such property of engineering materials that defines its ability to resist scratching, abrasion, and cutting. Magnetic abrasive finishing is a non-traditional machining process that is widely used to improve the surface quality of a component. The present work has been undertaken to study the effect of process parameters on the change in the hardness of the workpiece. “Response surface method (RSM)” was applied to optimise the process parameters. The results of the δH regression show that the value of δH increases with decreasing GAP and increasing rotational speed, abrasive quantity, abrasive grit size, and machining time. The process yields maximum decrease in hardness when GAP (A) = 2 mm, rotational speed of poles (B) = 400 rpm, quantity of abrasives (C) = 11g, abrasive grit size (D) = 90.5 µm, and machining time (E) = 75 min. The maximum value of change in hardness (δH) obtained in this work is 35.05 HV0.5.