Acoustic Emission

Characteristics of Abrasive
Flow Machining
Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) is a nontraditional finishing process that deburrs
and polishes by forcing an abrasive-laden viscoelastic polymer across the workpiece
R. E. Williams surface. Current applications include improvement in air and fluid flow for cylinder
Assistant Professor.
heads, intake manifold runners and injector nozzles. Present manufacturing methods
Assoc. Mem. ASME.
Industrial and Management Systems,
include a series of flow test and AFM operations which require significant material
Engineering Department, handling and operator adjustment. An effective on-line monitoring and adaptive
175 Nebraska Hall, control system for AFM is needed. This paper reports on the development of an
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, acoustic emission (AE) based monitoring strategy and the AE characteristics of
Lincoln, NE 68588-0518 abrasive flow machining. Initial results showed AE to be a viable sensing method
for determining the performance characteristics of AFM for simple extrusion passage
geometries in a selected part design. The root mean square (RMS) voltage of the
AE signal was mainly determined by the metal removal and related AFM process
parameters. Frequency decomposition of the AE signals revealed distinct frequency
bands which have been related to the different material removal modes in AFM and
to the workpiece material. Research was also performed on the application of AFM
to finish orifices of varying sizes. Extremely high correlations were found between
the AE signal and both the orifice diameter and the volumetric flow rate. Work is
continuing with the equipment manufacturer and key industrial users to apply the
monitoring strategy as part of a prototype Flow Control AFM.

1 Introduction omy, horsepower and exhaust emissions are areas of increasing

Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) is a nontraditional finish-
ing process that is used to deburr, polish, radius, remove recast
layers, produce compressive residual stresses or provide uni-
form air and fluid flow. AFM operates by flowing an abrasive-
laden viscoelastic compound through a restrictive passage
formed by a workpart/tooling combination. This causes the
media viscosity to temporarily rise. The abrasive grains are held
tightly in place at this point and the media becomes a grinding
stone which conforms to the passage geometry. The media slug
will uniformly abrade the walls of the extrusion passage. Media
viscosity will return to normal after the slug passes through the
restricted area (Rhoades, 1988).
AFM parameters that have the greatest influence on process
performance include the number of cycles, extrusion pressure,
grit composition and type, workpiece material, and fixture de-
sign (Williams and Rajurkar, 1992). The AFM process mecha-
nism has many similarities to 3-body erosion wear and to the
plowing condition found in sliding wear mechanisms (Peterson
et a l , 1985, and Jahanmir, 1985). Peterson et al. (1985) re-
ported on a number of factors which influence solid particle
erosion that are also related to AFM. These include impinge-
ment angle, particle velocity, particle size, shape and hardness,
and workpiece material properties such as hardness, ductility
and surface topography.
Applications of AFM range from precision dies and medical
components, to high volume production of electronic and auto-
motive parts. Recently, AFM has been applied to the improve-
ment in air and fluid flow for automotive engine components.
Automotive engines perform more efficiently with air flow
passages providing uniform air mass to each cylinder. Cast
passages cause variations in air flow due to the inherent variabil-
ity in the casting process. Market factors including fuel econ-
Contributed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division for publication in the
JOURNAL OF MANUFACTURING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. Manuscript received
Feb. 1996; revised Oct. 1996. Associate Technical Editor: J. W. Sutherland.
competitive pressure facing U.S. automotive builders, particu-
larly from the Japanese. Moreover, upcoming regulations im-
posing higher fuel efficiency standards for automobile manufac-
turers and diesel emission restrictions for truck and bus engines
are serious concerns (Rhoades, 1993).
Presently, there are 200,000 flow holes in an aircraft turbine
engine, principally air cooling holes in blades. Flow resistance
precision of these holes with current manufacturing methods
can be controlled no more closely than 10 percent of total
flow. The demand on compressor section energy to provide
excess cooling air volume results in a significant loss to the
overall efficiency of the engine design. The constraint on these
applications is the cost of generating greater precision in flow
resistance. The more precisely the flow can be regulated, the
greater will be the fuel efficiency and economy of the engine
application.
The AFM process is already being used successfully for flow
control>adjustment in a test/AFM/test iterative fashion. This
experience has established that flow adjustment with this tech-
nique enhances passage flow efficiency due to shape streamlin-
ing and directional surface finish "lay" produced by the pro-
cess. However, on-line flow controlled machining would be
more precise and economical.
The main objective of this research is to develop an acoustic
emission based monitoring strategy that can be successfully
utilized for flow controlled AFM. Acoustic emission has been
shown to be a viable and useful signal in monitoring orthogonal
metal cutting, grinding, deburring, and micromachining by
Dornfeld and Erickson (1989), Kannatey-Asibu and Dornfeld
(1981), Dornfeld and Cai (1984), and Liu and Dornfeld
(1992). The previous research indicated a strong correlation
between the amount of material removal and the level of the
acoustic emission signal. In the present study, acoustic emission
overcomes many of the limitations associated with on-line mon-
itoring of AFM (such as the fact that the process works in an
enclosed passage which makes other sensing techniques diffi-

264 / Vol. 120, MAY 1998 Transactions of the ASME

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 cult). The characteristics of the AE signal should be strongly
correlated to the AFM process mechanics and the change in
the flow resistance of the workpieces. This paper presents the
research on the development of an acoustic emission based
monitoring strategy and the AE characteristics of abrasive flow
machining. The potential application of this research for flow
controlled AFM is discussed.
The next section gives a brief summary of previous research
using acoustic emission for process monitoring and control.
The third section describes the monitoring system, experiment
design and results. This includes statistical analysis, develop-
ment of a relationship between the AE signal and AFM, Data
Dependent Systems (DDS) analysis of the AE signals, and
application of the AE monitoring system to AFM of varying
orifices. The last section lists the main conclusions of this study
and describes the future work planned in this area.
2 Literature Review of Acoustic Emission for Pro-
cess Monitoring
Kannatey-Asibu and Dornfeld (1981) defined acoustic emis-
sion (AE) as the elastic stress waves generated by the rapid
release of strain energy within a material due to a rearrangement
of its internal structure. The stress waves produce displacements
on the surface of the material which can be detected by conver-
sion into electrical signals with piezoelectric transducers. Most
AE transducers operate in the range of 100 kHz to 1 MHz
(Eitzen and Wadley, 1984). This is advantageous for process
monitoring since this frequency range is outside most of the
extraneous electrical and mechanical noise found with manufac-
turing equipment.
Acoustic emission generated during manufacturing contains
much information about the process efficiency. AE has been
effectively applied to monitor and control such diverse manu-
facturing processes as orthogonal metal cutting, tool wear and
fracture, grinding and wheel loading, robotic deburring, micro-
machining and drilling (Dornfeld and Erickson, 1989; Kanna-
tey-Asibu and Dornfeld, 1981; Dornfeld and Cai, 1984; Liu and
Dornfeld, 1992; and Lan and Dornfeld, 1982; Sokolowski et
al., 1994). The cutting mechanism of the abrasive grains in
AFM has similarities to the mechanics of several of these other
processes, particularly grinding, deburring and micromachining.
In grinding, the three basic modes are cutting, plowing, and
rubbing. These modes are present in AFM, although their rela-
tive contributions to the energy consumed are different than in
grinding (Williams, 1993). Since these other studies are useful
for the present work, their results will be briefly summarized.
AE data recorded during orthogonal metal cutting verified
the dependency of emission energy on the cutting speed and
strain rate. The root mean square (RMS) AE increased with
cutting speed and with rake angle. Also, the effect of shear
strength of the workpiece material was highlighted in Kannatey-
Asibu and Dornfeld (1981). The AE signal was found to accu-
rately detect grinding wheel-work contact and sparkout. More-
over, Dornfeld and Cai (1984) found the AE energy to be
proportional to the depth of cut. Acoustic emission was found
to be effective to control tool engagement for robotic deburring.
The magnitude of the AE signal and depth of cut were highly
correlated. Dornfeld and Erickson (1989) gave a relationship
between average AE power and material removal rate. AE sens-
Nomenclature
a = proportionality constant for acous- C = constant depending on machining
tic emission calculations conditions, workpiece material and
Ac = tool contact area or the cross-sec- instrumentation gain
tional area of the passage opening / = feed rate
AE = acoustic emission generated during
abrasive flow machining
Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering
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ing provided a reliable method for monitoring the micromachin-
ing process for Liu and Dornfeld (1992). The RMS voltage,
zero crossing rate of the raw AE signal, and the Kurtosis of the
signal were used to monitor the actual undeformed chip thick-
ness and the change of cutting mechanism. Results suggested
that the plowing and rubbing mechanisms in metal cutting may
generate AE in higher frequency ranges. AE and vibration sen-
sors were used by Sokolowski et al. (1994) to detect drill wear
and drill breakage in a multi-spindle machining operation. The
time constant of the RMS metering device was found to be very
important as it affects the suppression of the dynamics of the
signal, yet allows the observation of process events.
In the present AFM research, acoustic emission energy
(RMS 2 of the signal) should be directly related to the depth of
cut. Depth of cut is the main component of material removal
(MR). Previous research related the amount of MR to the im-
provement in surface finish. Therefore, once the AE signal is
correlated with the MR, one can also indirectly determine the
improvement in surface finish. The same relationship should
hold true for the flow resistance of the workpiece before and
after AFM. Hence, the objective of this research was to under-
stand and quantify the acoustic emission (AE) signal acquired
during AFM processing. The development of an AFM monitor-
ing strategy is the first step towards an on-line adaptive control
system and flow controlled AFM. The preliminary application
for such a system is improved air and fluid flow resistance of
engine components.
3 Experiment and Results
To address many of the problems related to on-line monitor-
ing of AFM, acoustic emission (AE) technology was chosen
as a viable sensing method. The experimentation reported in
this paper is divided into two phases. The first phase describes
the initial research aimed at understanding the AFM process and
validating the use of AE to characterize the process performance
(Williams, 1993 and Williams and Rajurkar, 1994). The initial
research used a standard workpiece design which allowed easy
measurement of metal removal and surface roughness. The sec-
ond phase of the experimentation involved the processing of
orifices at the AFM equipment manufacturer. The orifices were
much smaller than the passages processed by AFM in the first
experiment. The parts were also machined with a different abra-
sive media, one more typically used for injector nozzles. Before
industrial application of the monitoring strategy for processing
of parts like fuel injector nozzles could be feasible, it is neces-
sary to understand the AE characteristics and AFM process
mechanisms for the much smaller passage geometries.
3.1 Full Factorial AE Experiment Design and Analysis.
The acoustic emission experiment was designed using classical
full factorial methods (Williams, 1993). The independent vari-
ables were extrusion pressure [450, 600, 750 and 900 psi (31,
41, 51, and 61 bars)], media viscosity (low viscosity (LV) and
medium viscosity (MV)), workpiece material (AISI4140 steel
and cast aluminum), abrasive grain size (36 and 70 grit) and
AFM cycle number (first, second and third). The dependent
variables were metal removal per cycle, RMS of the acoustic
emission signal, and surface roughness (Ra) improvement.
Analysis of the RMS AE was stated to be common by Pandit
MRR = material removal rate
RMS AE = root mean square voltage of
the acoustic emission signal
V media slug velocity in AFM
MAY 1998, Vol. 120 / 265
 The experiment was run in 4 batches of 8, corresponding to
a given grit size and workpiece material. The order was chosen
due to the availability of the putty and workpiece material. The
o 0.42 order of the trials within each group was randomized. Experi-
mental results highlighted some aspects of the AE monitoring
system and the AFM process. Increasing certain AFM factors
0.14
intensified the level of the AE signal. This was particularly true
for extrusion pressure, although there did not seem to be a
significant difference in going from a pressure of 750 to 900
-0.14
psi (51 to 61 bars). The AE signal was stronger when an
aluminum workpiece was machined versus the steel workpieces.
-0.42 Previous research on AFM found significantly higher material
removal on aluminum workpieces as compared to steel when
exactly the same AFM process parameters were used (Williams
and Rajurkar, 1992). This suggests a strong correlation between
100 150 material removal in AFM and the AE signal.
Sampled Data Point
Figure 1 shows an AE signal acquired during the first cycle
Fig. 1 AE signal acquired during the first AFM cycle (media: MV-70; of abrasive flow machining a steel workpiece. One nice feature
press: 600 psi (51 bars); steel workpiece) of the AE generated during AFM is that the frequency ranges
are higher than most extraneous noise caused by the hydraulic
pump and machinery. AE samples were acquired with the ma-
and Stacy (1993) due to the high frequencies involved. The chine on, but with no cylinder movement. These signals were
controlled variables or constants were the AFM equipment and compared to the ones taken during machining to make sure that
the media flow volume per stroke at 80 in.3 (918 cm 3 ). The noise was not a problem. Signals were checked with both RMS
passage finished by AFM was a .625 in. (15.9 mm) diameter, AE calculations and with spectral analysis methods.
2 in. (50.8 mm) long bore. The initial bore size and starting Analysis of the experimental data showed that the AE signal
surface roughness were measured and tracked before pro- seems to be very dependent on the characteristics of the work-
cessing. piece surface. Therefore, analysis of covariance, which com-
The acoustic emission monitoring system included a sensor, bines features of both analysis of variance (ANOVA) and re-
preamplifier and cables from Dunegan Engineering Consultants, gression, was used to analyze the results. With analysis of co-
Inc. The SE-900 MWB acoustic emission sensor was selected variance, the ANOVA model is augmented with one or more
for its wide bandwidth, high accuracy and high reliability. The quantitative variables that are related to the dependent variable.
sensor features a 100 to 900 kHz frequency response and the This is done to reduce the error terms in the model (Neter
case is filled with a special material to protect the active element et al., 1985). Starting surface roughness was chosen as the
from shock and vibration. An integral ceramic wear plate for concomitant variable in this analysis.
electrical isolation is standard. The use of this type of wide The result of the analysis of covariance with metal removal
bandwidth AE sensor was important for process monitoring for as the dependent variable is given in Table 1. This analysis
several reasons. First, AE sensing had not yet been applied
to AFM and there was no information available about which
frequency bands to expect. Second, one would like the dominant Table 1 Results of the analysis of covariance for metal removal
frequency characteristics to be related to the process itself,
rather than being a function of the sensor. Additionally, the General Linear Models Procedure
sensor was chosen because of the desire to perform complex
Sum of
frequency analysis of the AE signals. Source DF Squares Mean Square F Value Pr>F
The monitoring system also included a model 400-A pream-
Model 16 287044.19 17940.26 46.39 0.0001
plifier with a fixed gain of 40 dB. This preamplifier had a built-
in bandpass filter (100 kHz-2 MHz). The preamplifier was Error 79 30551.64 386.72
connected to a 15 VDC power supply. Signal output used a Corrected 95 317595.83
Total
single-ended BNC connector which fed into a high speed data
acquisition system with Computerscope Enhanced Graphics Ac- R-Square C.V. RootMSE MR
Mean
quisition and Analysis (EGAA) software.
Before the main experiment began, a sample part was pro- 0.903803 31.99 19.66 61.45
cessed on the machine. The AE equipment was connected to a Source DF TypeISS Mean Square F Value Pr>F
digital storage oscilloscope. The highest frequency of the AE SF 1 34833.44 34833.44 90.07 0.0001
signal for the sample part was found to be approximately 200
PR 3 89071.04 29690.34 76.77 0.0001
to 250 kHz. Preliminary data acquisition of the AE signal was
done at a 50 msec sampling interval. In light of the frequency VI 1 16307.69 16307.59 42.17 0.0001
value above and the fact that the sampling frequency should be MA 1 91912.64 91912.64 237.67 0.0001
greater than twice the signal frequency, a sampling interval of GR 1 448.56 448.56 1.16 0.284
2 /isec was tried. Both output digital waveforms were compared. CY 2 7988.47 3994.23 10.33 0.0001
No noticeable difference was detected in the size or shape of
PR*VI 3 4987.79 1662.59 4.30 0.0073
the waveform. The limited buffer size of the data acquisition
system only allowed a very small portion (65 msec) of the PR*MA 3 35876.59 11958.86 30.92 0.0001
machining cycle to be sampled at 2 fisec. Since no difference VI*MA 1 5617.92 5617.92 14.53 0.0003
was found between the RMS AE values calculated for the 2
fisec and 50 msec sampling intervals, the RMS AE values at 50
Concomitant Variable: SF = starting surface roughness Ra
msec were used in the statistical analysis due to the advantage of Factor Effects: PR = extrusion pressure
representing a large section of the machining cycle. However, VI = media viscosity
AE signals were also acquired at the 2 //sec interval. These were MA = workpiece material
GR = abrasive grain size
used for the spectral analysis and frequency decomposition. CY = cycle number

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 included the concomitant variable, all of the main effects, and
the significant two-way interactions. The other two-factor and
higher order terms were pooled in the error term to give a
pooled mean square error. From the table, one can see that the
concomitant variable, starting surface roughness, was statisti-
cally significant. As expected, pressure, viscosity, material and
cycles were all significant, with workpiece material having the
strongest effect. This makes sense given the difference in hard-
ness between the steel and aluminum specimens. Grit size was
found to be insignificant. Usually, a larger grit size would cause
higher metal removal and, therefore, a stronger AE signal. It is
unclear why the grit size significantly affected the AE signal,
but not the metal removal. A possible reason may be that the
grit sizes chosen (36 and 70 grit) were fairly close together.
These sizes were selected because of their heavy industrial us-
age in AFM. The two-way interactions pressure-viscosity, pres-
sure-material and viscosity-material were also statistically sig-
nificant. Finally, the coefficient of multiple determination (R2)
for the model was 0.90, which is fairly high.
A similar analysis was performed for the RMS of the AE
signal as the dependent variable. Starting surface roughness as
the independent quantitative variable was again significant. The
pressure, material, grit size and cycles main effects were also
significant. The viscosity main effect was not significant. Four
of the two-factor interactions were significant. The value of R2
for the model was 0.81, which is still quite good, although
slightly lower than that for the MR model.
3.2 Relationship Between the AE Signal and AFM.
The energy of the AE signal during machining is a function of
work material properties, tool geometry, and machining condi-
tions. The power of the AE signal for finishing operations de-
pends mainly on the material removal rate (MRR) and is given
by Dornfeld and Erickson (1989),
AE power = a*MRR (1)
where a is a proportionality constant depending on tool and
workpiece properties and instrumentation gain. The AE power
is averaged over some time interval. For deburring operations,
MRR has been found to be a function of depth of cut, chip
thickness or feed rate, and cutting velocity.
The average power was stated to be equivalent to the root
mean square of the AE signal, RMS AE, squared. A relationship
between the RMS AE and the depth of cut for chamfering and
deburring has been given in Dornfeld and Erickson (1989) as,
RMS AE = ( a * / * A c ) ' (2)
where
Ac = tool contact area
/ = feed rate
a = constant
The relationship between RMS AE and AFM process parame-
ters is expected to be similar to that in Eq. (2). AFM, like
chamfering and deburring, has a chip size much smaller than
the tool/work contact area. In fact, the size of the material
removed by the abrasive grains may be .00005 in. (1.3 /xm) or
less, depending on the process conditions.
With abrasive flow machining, the slug of viscoelastic media
conforms to the entire extrusion passage and simultaneously
finishes all of the surfaces in contact with the putty. Therefore,
for AFM, the Ac term should really be related to the area of
the extrusion passage. The exact area calculation to use would
depend on the specific workpiece geometry and the finishing
criteria. For some applications, the surface area of the extrusion
passage may be correct. It is assumed that Ac represents the
cross-sectional area of the extrusion passage for this experiment.
Later in this paper, this term will be refined with the results of
the second phase of the experimentation.
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600 700
Pressure (psi)
Fig. 2 RMS AE versus extrusion pressure
The other significant term in Eq. (2) is the feed rate,/. Feed
rate gives an indication of the speed with which the cutting tool
moves relative to the workpiece. During AFM, once the media
conforms to the shape of the extrusion passage, the relative
speed between the putty and the workpiece surface is more
directly measured by the media slug velocity. Hence, the media
Slug velocity in AFM would be a more appropriate factor to
include in the relationship for RMS AE.
Therefore, taking the square-roots of these terms and adding
an appropriate constant, it is proposed that the predicted RMS
AE for abrasive flow machining is,
RMS AE = (C*Ac*vy (3)
where
C = constant depending on machining conditions,
workpiece material and instrumentation gain
V = media slug velocity (in/sec or cm/sec)
Ac = cross-sectional area of extrusion passage (in 2 or cm 2 )
One can analyze this relationship by first looking at the AFM
process parameters that may affect the media velocity, V. Expe-
rience with AFM would suggest that increases in extrusion
pressure would increase media velocity. Experimental results
have shown that pressure significantly affects RMS AE. The
second AFM factor to consider is media viscosity. For constant
pressure, a higher viscosity putty would normally have a lower
media velocity than a less viscous media. However, Williams
and Rajurkar (1992) have shown that higher viscosity causes
significantly greater material removal. This higher material re-
moval would cause a stronger AE signal and would be repre-
sented by a larger value of the constant C in Eq. (3).
Figure 2 shows the RMS AE versus extrusion pressure. The
two curves represent the MV (medium viscosity) putty with an
aluminum workpiece and MV putty with a steel workpiece. Grit
size was constant at 70 and the data was collected on the first
AFM cycle. In general, the RMS AE values were higher for
the aluminum workpieces than for the steel ones. Additionally,
the slopes are different for the two lines. These two trends are
due to the difference in the shear strengths of the materials,
which allows higher material removal in AFM for the lower
strength metal. This agrees with the role of workpiece shear
strength on RMS AE that Kannatey-Asibu and Dornfeld (1981)
found. Also, there was a noticeable increase in RMS AE as
pressure increased, which increased the shear strain rate and
the metal removal.
Finally, Eq. (3) was used to predict the RMS AE values
for the machining conditions. The constant C in Eq. (3) was
determined by running additional tests on each media batch
type and each workpiece material. The resulting media veloci-
MAY 1998, Vol. 120 / 267
 140
Fig. 3 Predicted and actual RMS AE versus number of cycles (media:
LV-70; press: 600 psi (51 bars); steel workpiece)
ties were combined with the RMS AE values from the full
factorial experiment to determine C values which were averaged
over the pressure and cycle levels (Williams, 1993). Figure 3
shows a sample result of the predicted and actual RMS AE
values versus the number of cycles. Viscosity, pressure and
workpiece material were held constant. The results show very
good agreement between the actual and predicted levels. This
also agrees with the relationships proposed for acoustic emis-
sion and the AFM process.
3.3 Data Dependent Systems (DDS) Analysis of AFM.
The AFM process is complex and random due to transient media
flow conditions. Stochastic modeling and analysis techniques
are needed to augment the standard deterministic methods. This
will allow a greater understanding of the AFM process mecha-
nism. Hence, acoustic emission signals acquired during AFM
processing were analyzed with the Data Dependent Systems
techniques.
The DDS modeling procedure consists of fitting Autoregres-
sive Moving Average models, denoted by ARMA (, n 1),
by standard nonlinear least squares routines. Higher order mod-
els are fitted until the reduction in the sum of squares of the
ARMA models are not statistically significant. The statistical
significance is determined by performing an F-test between the
unrestricted (higher order model) and the restricted model with
certain parameters set to zero. The form of the DDS ARMA
models easily yields the Green's function (impulse response
function) and the autocovariance function and its transform, the
power spectrum. The power spectrum gives the distribution of
the power of the data by frequency. The calculated percentage
power of each mode is a measure of the amount the mode
contributes to the variance of the data (Pandit and Wu, 1983).
DDS methodology has been applied to model and characterize
machined surfaces. It has also been used by Rajurkar and
Schnacker (1988) in the monitoring and control of a manufac-
turing process. The application of DDS modeling and analysis
of AE signals for abrasive flow machining was first proposed,
carried out and reported by Williams (1993) and Williams and
Rajurkar (1993 and 1994). One recent study used DDS to
analyze the AE signals acquired during grinding (Pandit and
Stacy, 1993).
AE signals for the steel workpieces were analyzed with DDS.
The models for the MV signals were generally of a higher
ARMA order. However, to allow a more uniform comparison
of the frequency decomposition and power spectrum analysis,
ARMA (6, 5) models were acquired for all of the data sets.
DDS analysis found that the main root with the majority of the
power had a frequency around 160 kHz for almost all of the
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signals. There was also a secondary root with less power that
had a frequency around 80 to 90 kHz. The most important trend
in the DDS analysis of the AE signals was that as the number
of cycles increased, the power spectrum amplitude of the fre-
quency around 160 kHz increased. An example of this is illus-
trated in Fig. 4.
In AFM, as the number of cycles increases, the characteristic
flow lines produced in the workpiece surface become more
pronounced. These flow lines have been generally found to be
caused by a plowing mechanism (Williams and Rajurkar,
1992). The fact that the higher frequency component is associ-
ated with the plowing mechanism would agree with the results
of Liu and Dornfeld (1992). Their findings suggested that the
plowing and rubbing mechanisms in metal cutting may generate
AE in higher frequency ranges compared to the cutting mecha-
nism.
Finally, the output of the DDS frequency decomposition can
be compared to the spectral analysis function of the EGAA data
acquisition system. For the spectral analysis, two of the outputs
were very clear with no noticeable noise. These were the second
and third cycles with MV-70 at 450 psi. For the second cycle,
there were small peaks at frequencies of 60 kHz and 190 kHz.
There was a major peak and frequency band from 150 to 160
kHz. For cycle 3 there was a small peak at 80 kHz. There were
also several large peaks which showed a major frequency band
from 150 to 155 kHz (Fig. 5 ) . These results corresponded very
closely to the DDS output frequencies.
Results for the other AE signals studied with the spectral
analysis option were not as clear. There seemed to be some noise
in the frequency domain. However, there were still noticeable
changes in the frequency levels at bands that correlated closely
to the calculated DDS output frequencies. The spectral analysis
was also run using the Hanning window which is a cosine
tapering function. This may eliminate false high frequency read-
ings caused by end points not starting at zero. However, this
approach failed to yield the desired results. Possible suggestions
for future work are signal averaging or the use of band-pass
filters. Some of the problems encountered with the EGAA spec-
tral analysis function highlights the advantages of using DDS
to model the digitized AE data files. DDS provided better spec-
tra. This agrees with the similar findings by Pandit and Stacy
(1993). Other researchers have compared DDS outputs with
those of standard techniques.
DDS spectral analysis of tool holder vibrations was compared
to the results of conventional Fourier analysis in Pandit and
Suzuki. The DDS spectra were found to be much clearer and
1-1/
0.9- /
0.8-
o 07 -/ ., ,, _
0.6^
i 0.5-
0.4-
1 0.2
0.3- /
1
s
1
0.1 /
n./
I
. w
1 2 3
Cycle*
Fig 4 Relative contribution of main root (media: MV-70; press: 900 psi
(61 bars))
Transactions of the ASME
 -66
-68
I -70
% began with the acquisition of AE signals while processing parts
I -74
-76
0 50 100 150 200 250
Frequency (KHz)
Fig. 5 Spectral analysis output for cycle 3
more precise. The normalized damping ratio (damping ratio
divided by the initial ratio) was found to be a very sensitive
indicator of wear. It was also stated that a remarkable feature
of DDS modeling is that it is free from aliasing and not limited
by the Nyquist frequency.
Moreover, spectral characteristics of AE generated during
turning were studied with a spectrum analyzer. The dominant
frequencies were found at about 80 kHz and 150 kHz. The
power spectrum amplitude increased in these frequency ranges
as tool wear increased. Lan and Dornfeld (1982) obtained simi-
lar results with an FFT program using digitized AE data. It is
very interesting that the two frequencies mentioned above for
tool wear in turning (80 and 150 kHz) were close to the predom-
inant frequencies found in this work for the AFM process. It is
possible that the removal mechanism in AFM (plowing to cause
AFM flow lines) is similar to the contact between the turning
tool flank and the workpiece which results in flank wear. It is
more probable that these frequencies are similar because the
workpiece materials have similar properties. A check of the
turning experiment revealed that 4340 steel was used compared
to 4140 steel in the present research. This suggests that while
the RMS AE levels are strongly determined by the material
removal, the frequency ranges in the AE signal may be affected
by the material properties. When aluminum workpieces were
processed by AFM (Williams, 1993), the main and secondary
frequencies in the AE signal were shifted 5-10 kHz higher than
for the steel specimens.
To separate the frequencies related to the workpiece material
and AFM finishing from the noises in the machining system,
AE signals were acquired with the part clamped and no cylinder
movement which would cause machining action. DDS analysis
found two real roots with the majority of the power. A 158 kHz
complex root had a power of 5.3 percent, while the 80 kHz
complex root had a power of 15.8 percent. The 80 kHz root
might be linked to the clamping. It was stated earlier that a
frequency around 160 kHz was related to the workpiece material
and the AFM action. While no machining occurred in this test,
the part was still being compressed by the clamping plates. The
response of the workpiece material may be picked up as the
low power 158 kHz frequency.
In summary, there was very good correlation between the
DDS analysis of the acoustic emission signals and the spectral
analysis option of the data acquisition system. Although a 0.5
frequency root (related to the Nyquist frequency) was found
with some DDS outputs, DDS frequency decomposition clearly
identified the main and secondary roots in the AE signal for all
cases. This was not true for all of the signals analyzed with the
FFT option of the data acquisition system.
Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering
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3.4 AFM Processing of Orifices. One potential industrial
application of an AFM monitoring system involves injector
nozzle tips. The critical factor for the injector nozzles is to
control the flow resistance of the tips. Since the tip holes are
much smaller than any hole sizes previously tested, this research
with varying orifice diameters. This was necessary to investigate
the AFM process mechanism for these smaller passages, as
well as to validate the acoustic emission relationships presented
earlier. The inside diameters of the orifices were 0.025 in. (0.63
mm), 0.05 in. (1.27 mm), 0.075 in. (1.91 mm) and 0.1 in. (2.54
mm). Initial workpieces all had orifice lengths of 0.2 in. (5.1
mm). The orifices were machined out of medium carbon steel
barstock. The parts were processed with a special low viscosity
putty containing 1000 grit size silicon carbide abrasives. Extru-
sion pressure was 864 psi (59 bars).
Very high correlation was found between RMS AE and the
orifice diameter and RMS AE and volumetric flow rate. Figure
6 shows the relationship between orifice diameter and RMS
AE. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.9994. Increased orifice
diameter caused higher AE levels. In Eq. 3, Ac for an assumed
round passage would be represented by ir(d/2)2, where d repre-
sents the passage diameter. Per Eq. (3), the terms C, Ac and
V are multiplied and then the square root is taken of the product.
The square root of the Ac term then gives (d) to the power 1.
Therefore, the correlation coefficient of almost 1.0 from the
experimental data confirms the linear relationship between ori-
fice diameter and RMS AE in Eq. (3).
A larger orifice diameter would mean a greater surface area
of the media slug in contact with the workpiece. A greater
orifice passage length would also increase the total contact area
of the media slug. Therefore, the relationship between orifice
diameter and length needed to be investigated to finalize the Ac
term in Eq. (3).
A second set of trials was designed. A 0.100 in. (2.54 mm)
orifice with twice the length of the earlier trial was machined.
This orifice was processed with the same media, pressure and
conditions as before. Additional tests were run at higher pres-
sures. The 0.100 in. (2.54 mm) orifice with the original shorter
length was also processed at higher pressure.
The 0.100 in. (2.54 mm) diameter, 0.200 in. (5.08 mm) long
orifice had a volumetric flow rate of 1.242 in 3 /s (20.352 cm3/
s) and an RMS AE of 227.7 mV when processed at 864 psi (59
bars). As expected, the tests run at higher media pressures caused
higher RMS AE levels. Several trials were run for the 0.400 in.
(5.08 mm) long orifice. The average flow rate was 0.921 in 3 /s
(15.092 cm 3 /s) and the average RMS AE was 174.2 mV.
From this data, one can see that by increasing the length of
the orifice passage, the media velocity was lower as confirmed
by the lower volumetric flow rates measured. Longer orifices
250 T
-200" / ^
m 100" ^ ^
* 50" s'
o-i * 1 1 1
0 0.025 0.05 0.075 0.1
Orifice Diameter (in.)
Fig. 6 Relationship between orifice diameter and RMS of the acoustic
emission signal
MAY 1998, Vol. 120 / 269
 250"
200"
5-150-
w ber of cycles increased, the power spectrum amplitude
<c
$2100--
50"
0 0.008 0.117 0.609 1.242
Volumetric Flow Rate (in3/sec)
Fig. 7 Relationship between volumetric flow rate and RMS of the acous-
tic emission signal
caused greater flow restrictions. The lower slug velocities
caused lower RMS AE per Eq. (3).
Based on these results, the Ac term in Eq. (3) should be
defined as the cross-sectional area of the passage opening.
Greater orifice diameters (and therefore areas) will cause less
of a media flow restriction and will allow higher media veloci-
ties and higher AE levels. The effect of the passage length will
show up in the media slug velocity term. Also, higher extrusion
pressures were associated with greater media slug velocities and
greater RMS AE levels. These results are consistent with those
reported by Williams (1993) and Williams and Rajurkar
(1994).
Figure 7 shows the relationship between volumetric flow rate
and RMS AE. The correlation coefficient here was 0.964. These
results can be explained as follows. For a given extrusion pres-
sure, one would expect an increase in volumetric flow rate
with larger orifice diameters. Volumetric flow rate (VFR) is
approximately equal to Ac times V. From Eq. (3) with any two
sets of flow rates and associated RMS AE levels:
(RMS AEj)/(RMS AE)
= (VFR I ) 1 / 2 /(VFR)" 2 = (VFR,/VFR n )" 2 (4)
Therefore, while the results in Fig. 7 suggest that there is a
strong correlation between volumetric flow rate and RMS AE,
equation 4 illustrates that the relationship should not be linear.
4 Conclusions
The Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) process is complex
and random due to transient media flow conditions and distribu-
tion of abrasive grains. Moreover, any workpiece material re-
moved during AFM becomes part of the putty, thereby altering
the media characteristics. This paper presents the results of
a newly developed AFM monitoring strategy using acoustic
emission. This is the first step towards a comprehensive on-line
AFM control system. Results of this study led to the following
conclusions:
(1) Acoustic emission (AE) is a viable sensing method
for determining the performance characteristics of the
AFM process. The AE signal was highly dependent on
the characteristics of the workpiece surface before
AFM, particularly starting surface roughness Ra.
(2) The root mean square (RMS) voltage of the AE signal
was found to be sensitive to extrusion pressure (related
to the shear strain rate) and other AFM process parame-
ters which affect the material removal.
(3) Data Dependent Systems (DDS) frequency decomposi-
270 / Vol. 120, MAY 1998
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tion of the acoustic emission signals acquired during
AFM processing revealed distinct frequency bands.
These bands have been related to the different material
removal modes in AFM. The primary AE signal compo-
nent had a frequency around 160 kHz. This frequency
was postulated to be due to the type of workpiece mate-
rial and the formation of AFM flow lines. As the num-
of this frequency increased.
(4) Good agreement was found between the primary fre-
quency ranges found with DDS modeling and those
derived with the spectral analysis function of the data
acquisition system.
(5) Orifices with smaller inside diameter passages were
processed with AFM and the AE monitoring system.
Very high correlations were found between RMS AE
and the orifice diameter and RMS AE and volumetric
flow rate. Expressions proposed for the RMS of the
acoustic emission signal were clarified with these find-
ings.
These results found that the acoustic emission generated dur-
ing AFM is highly correlated to the passage size, volumetric
flow rate of the putty, and the material removed from the work-
piece passage. Logically, the acoustic emission signal should
also be correlated with the flow resistance of the workpiece,
since the flow resistance is dependent on the passage size and
surface condition. Results of this study formed the major portion
of a proposed research project on flow control machining which
was recently funded by the NIST Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
Advanced Technology Program. The project involves the au-
thor, the AFM equipment manufacturer, and two automotive
manufacturers.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the National Science Founda-
tion (Grant No. DDM-9102937) and the Nebraska Research
Initiative for their support of this study. Extrude Hone Corpora-
tion in Irwin, Pennsylvania deserves recognition for providing
partial support for the research project. The author would also
like to express sincere gratitude to the reviewers for their con-
structive comments which have improved this manuscript.
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(Contents continued)

368 Technology Cost Modeling for the Manufacture of Printed Circuit Boards in New Electronic
Products
S. G. Shina and A. Saigal

376 Finishing of Silicon Nitride Balls for High-Speed Bearing Applications

M. Raghunandan and R. Komanduri

387 Dynamics of Spindle-Bearing Systems at High Speeds Including Cutting Load Effects
B, R. Jorgensen and Y. C. Shin

395 Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Machining Condition on the Contact Sliding
Behavior of Metals
D-E. Kim and D-H. Hwang
401 A Systematic Approach for Analyzing the Fixturability of Parts for Machining
S. K. Ong and A. Y. C. Nee
409 Error Source Diagnostics Using a Turning Process Simulator
S-G. Chen, A. Galip Ulsoy, and Y. Koren
417 Open Architecture Controllers for Machine Tools, Part 1: Design Principles
S. Schof ield and P. Wright
425 Open Architecture Controllers for Machine Tools, Part 2: A Real Time Quintic Spline
Interpolator
F-C. Wang and P. Wright

433 A Comprehensive Identification of Tool Failure and Chatter Using a Parallel Multi-ART2
Neural Network
X. Q. Li, Y. S. Wong, and A. Y. C. Nee

443 Adaptive Optimization of Face Milling Operations Using Neural Networks

T. J. Ko and D. W. Cho
452 Design Evaluation of Sheet Metal Joints for Dimensional Integrity
D. Ceglarek and J. Shi
461 Sheet Metal Joint Configurations and Their Variation Characteristics
S. C. Liu and S. J. Hu

TECHNICAL BRIEFS
468 Analyzing the Probabilities of Natural Resting for a Component With a Virtual Resting Face
B. K. A. Ngoi, L. E. N. Lim, and S. S. G. Lee

471 Design and Implementation of a Tube Wall Thickness Measurement System

S. J. Ludwick, H. E. Jenkins, and T. R. Kurfess

476 Outstanding Reviewers for 1997

221 Change of Address Form

Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering MAY 1998, Vol. 120 / 271

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