Modelling of Material Removal in Abrasive Flow Machining

Abstract

Trends like lightweight construction and functional integration lead to more and more complex workpieces. Often, these workpieces must be finished after machining. Especially inner contours are difficult to finish. Hence, only a few manufacturing techniques are suitable for deburring, edge rounding and polishing of inner contours. An appropriate solution is abrasive flow machining (AFM), in which a highly viscous fluid with abrasive grains is used. Despite the wide usage of AFM in industry, the knowledge about the fundamentals of abrasive flow machining processes is limited. After elaborated test series new findings concerning the surface integrity are presented in this paper. This is done in terms of the regressive development of the surface roughness on the one hand and in terms of the generated edge rounding on the other hand. In this context, it is found that there is a factor of approximately 16 between the chipped material at the edge and the chipped material at the surface. This factor is nearly constant during the processing time. Finally, using the results of the studies, the correlation between the processing parameters, surface roughness, edge rounding, and material removal rate can be characterized. Moreover, these new findings can be transferred to a comprehensive process model, which is the basis for a reliable process simulation. Owing to this progress, predictions of the processing results of AFM will be possible.