Influence of impact-centrifugal hardener on microhardness of workpiece surface made of aluminium alloys

Abstract

This article develops a tool for impact-centrifugal processing and establishes processing modes that increase the microhardness of the surface. An experimental study was carried out, where the tightening force, the number of working strokes, the rotation frequency of the hardener and the motion were proposed as technological parameters of impact-centrifugal processing. The experiments were carried out using flat machine-cut samples based on aluminium alloy D16T. A prototype of the rotary hardener with the standard fastening was designed and manufactured. During the experiment, it was revealed that, for the variation in average microhardness, the contribution of the rotation frequency is higher than that of the longitudinal motion. A significant influence of the tension on the surface microhardness is noted: following processing with a rotary hardener, it increases. It is shown that, to a greater extent, this increase depends on the technological tightening force and to a lesser extent on the rotation speed of the tool; it is recommended to increase these parameters. It was found that a 2-fold increase in tightening force resulted in an increase in microhardness by 70 HV 0.1, while increasing the tool rotation speed by 200 rpm led to an increase in microhardness by 42 HV 0.1. However, technological parameters must be selected taking into account the operability of the hardener. It was shown that the longitudinal motion has little influence on the increase in microhardness. The prototype of the designed tool can be used for processing at milling, boring, and grinding machines with computerised numerical control through a standardised fastening unit. This ensures sufficient technological flexibility and allows it to be used for reinforcing flat surfaces and fillet radii. The forecasted increase in the surface microhardness of the D16T sample using a rotary hardener amounts to 38.5% of the initial value in the experimental area with satisfactory productivity.