Modelling of surface formation mechanism during burnishing of aluminium

Abstract

Burnishing is a finishing process which levels the roughness of machined surfaces and increases the hardness by micro-forming. In this paper, a novel two-dimensional finite element model for the diamond ball burnishing process on aluminium is presented, which allows a prediction of the surface structure. The force, step over distance, and tool geometry during the burnishing process are taken into account by the model and the results are verified by experimental investigations. The verification shows that the model is able to predict all geometrical surface aspects like roughness, sinking-in and bulge formation for reasonable process parameters.