Experimental investigation of external surface finishing of AISI 440C stainless steel cylinders using the magnetic abrasive finishing process

Abstract

Magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) is one of the advanced machining processes implementing the material removal in micro dimensions using the magnetic field force and magnetic abrasive particles (MAPs). In this process, the machining forces are low, the surface defects such as micro-cracks are so small and a desirable smooth surface is obtained. In this paper, the effects of parameters such as working gap, workpiece rotational speed, and the material removal mechanism (injecting the abrasive slurry of SiC and Al2O3, and diamond paste) on the surface roughness has been experimentally investigated in the MAF process on the external surface of the AISI 440C stainless steel cylinders. To do the experiments, a setup was designed and manufactured, and the experiments have been implemented according to the design of experiments (DOE) and the full factorial method. The experimental data were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The experimental data analysis showed that the working gap and the workpiece rotational speed have a significant effect on improving the surface roughness. The obtained surface roughness under the conditions of experimental working gap of 2 mm, the workpiece rotational speed of 355 rpm, using the Al2O3 and SiC abrasive slurry injection, and diamond paste has improved as 20, 30, and 50 %, respectively. The images of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) taken from the workpiece surface texture before and after the process confirm the obtained results.