Experimental investigation of electro-chemical magnetic abrasive finishing of SS 304 workpiece

Abstract

Industry demands Nano level of surface finishing and development of advanced material makes finishing difficult to attain for modern grinding industry. The Electro-Chemical Magnetic Abrasive Finishing (ECMAF) is an advanced abrasion based finishing process used to finish very hard material with superior surface finishing. In ECMAF, soft film generated by electro-chemical dissolution (ECD) on the workpiece is removed by gentle finishing force of micron size abrasive particles of Magnetic abrasive Finishing (MAF). In this process, the material is removed in the form of microchips without sub surface damage. This paper presents the experimental investigation of SS 304 workpiece using indigenously newly developed ECMAF set up that eliminates the problem of washing of abrasive particles by electrolyte from the working gap. The Un-bonded Magnetic Abrasive Particles (UMAPs) are prepared by mechanical mixture of ferromagnetic particles and abrasive particles. The experiment is designed using L25 orthogonal array of Taguchi Methodology and effect of working gap, workpiece rotational speed, electrolytic flow rate and electrolytic current on the Surface Roughness (SR) and Material Removal (MR) is studied. The result is analyzed using ANOVA and found the working gap to be the most significant process parameter followed by workpiece rotational speed and electrolytic current for SR while the working gap is found to be most the significant process parameter for MR.