Increase in demand for better quality products at low cost with decreased lead time and high

finishing operation costs necessitates to find alternative processes which can be easily automated,
produces closer tolerances, better surface finish and capable of processing intricate geometries. This
leads to the development of advanced manufacturing processes such as Abrasive Flow Machining,
Mangnetic Abrasive Finishing and others.
Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) is developed in the 1960s to deburr and polish difficult-to-reach
areas using abrasive particles mixed in a viscoelastic polymer that is forced to flow through or
around the part surfaces and edges. AFM is a finishing process, particularly well-suited for internal
passageways that are often inaccessible by conventional methods. Silicon carbide is a typical
abrasive.
A common setup is to position the work part between two opposing cylinders, one containing
media and the other empty. The semisolid abrasive media is forced through the workpiece or
through the restrictive passage formed by workpiece and tooling together. Abrasive mixture past the
target regions of the part under pressures ranging from 0.7 to 20 MPa. The media is forced to flow
through the part from the first cylinder to the other, and then back again, as many times as necessary
to achieve the desired material removal and finish. Very thin chips produced in AFM, so better
surface finish upto 0.05 to 1 micro meter can be obtained.
Force may be applied hydraulically or mechanically. Velocity of media is governed by cross
sectional area of passageways. More the restriction offered by the passageway, larger is the force
required. Abrasive particles act as cutting tools; hence it is a multi-point cutting process giving very
low MRR. It is employed both for metals and non-metals. It is equally suitable for workpieces
which contain passage ways that are not accessible for conventional deburring and polishing tools.
This process can be employed to machine tens of parts at the same time to enhance productivity.
This has a high flexibility, i e, the same machine can be used to do a variety of jobs by changing
toolings, machining parameters, media and abrasives. AFM offers better surface finish, high
efficiency, economy and consistency.

Components of AFM
1. Machine
2. Tooling
3. Media
Machine having two cylinders and abrasive media controls the extrusion pressure and flow volume.
The media is extruded (or forced) back and forth from one cylinder to another with the help of a
hydraulic ram. These cylinders/chambers are clamped together with the workpiece sandwiched
between them. The enclosed workpiece area through which the media is forced, is called the
extrusion passage. To maintain a constant media viscosity, in some applications, coolers for
lowering the temperature of the media are also used. Manual or computer control machines are
available, The controllable variables are volume of media, no. of stroke, number of cycles and
pressure.

Tooling is that element of an AFM system which is used to confine and direct the flow of media to
the appropriate areas. Basic principle of tooling design in AFM system is to selectively permit or
block the flow of media into or out of workpiece passages where deburring, radiusing, and surface
improvements are desired. Tooling for AFM machine is designed with two aims:
(i) to hold the parts in position, and
(ii) to contain the media and direct its flow.
Maximum machining takes place wherever there is a maximum restriction to the flow of abrasive.
While machining internal surfaces like bore o f a shaft, configuration of the bore itself decides the
extent of restriction present to the flow of media. In case of external surfaces, the designer of
tooling decides the extent of restriction to be imposed (Figs. 4.5d and 4.5e). In case of polishing of
spur gear teeth, diameter of a cylinder placed around the gear teeth determines the extent of
restriction present
for the flow o f mediaPassages of similar nature can be processed in parallel (Fig. 4.5a). In case of a
non-uniform cross-section, MRR of narrowest section will be maximum and that
of widest section will be minimum (Fig. 4.5b). Replaceable inserts made of
nylon, teflon, or similar other materials are used for restricting flow of media to
induce abrasive action. Once these inserts are worn out, they are replaced by new
ones. Life of such inserts may be in terms of thousands of parts if they are pro
perly designed.
Characteristics of media determine aggressiveness o f action of abrasives dur
ing AFM process. AFM media is pliable (easily moulded, Fig. 4.1) material which
is resilient enough to act as a self deforming grinding stone (Fig. 4.6) when forced
through a passageway [Rhoades, 1988]. It consists of base material and abrasive
grits. The base material (viscoplastic/viscoelastic material) is made up of an
organic polymer, and hydrocarbon gel. Composition of the base material deter
mines its degree of stiffness. The stijfest media is used for largest hole, while soft
media is used for small holes. High stiffness of the media results in a kind of pure
extrusion while soft media will lead to a faster flow in the centre than along walls.
It is reported that a more stiff media finishes a passageway more uniformly while
a less stiff media results in a greater radius at the passage opening When the abrasive grains laden
media comes in contact with the workpiece
surface to be machined, the abrasive grains are held tightly in place and the media
acts as a deformable grinding stone. Fig. 4.6 shows that how the same media
takes different shapes depending upon configuration of the workpiece to be fin
ished. Hundreds of holes in a combustion liner can be sized to a tolerance of hun
dredth of a millimetre. Types o f abrasives used are A1 2 0 3, SiC, cubic boron
nitride (CBN) and diamond (written in the order of their increasing hardness and
cost). These abrasives are available in different grit sizes. The abrasives have
limited life. As a thumb rule, when the media has machined an amount equal to
10% of its weight, it must be discarded. To assure a proper mixing of a new batch of media and
abrasive, it should be cycled 20-50 times through a scrap part.
Machined parts should be properly cleaned before use, by air or vacuum.

This process is good for operations like deburring, radiusing, polishing, removing recast layer,
producing compressive residual stresses, etc. In addition to deburring and polishing, other AFM
applications include forming radii on sharp edges, removing rough surfaces on castings, and other
finishing operations. These applications are found in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and
die-making.