Surface

Effect of the Process Parameters on the

Surface Roughness during Magnetic
Abrasive Finishing Process on
Ferromagnetic Stainless Steel workpieces

 ABSTRACT

Study of new and cost effective finishing processes has always been an
area of keen interest to overcome the difficulties of existing finishing
process. Magnetic Abrasive Finishing (MAF) is a process in which a mixture
of non-ferromagnetic abrasives and ferromagnetic iron particles is used to
do finishing operation with the aid of magnetic force. The iron particles in
the mixture are magnetically energized using a magnetic field. The iron
particles form a lightly rigid matrix in which the abrasives are trapped. This
is called Flexible Magnetic Abrasive Brush (FMAB), which when given
relative motion against a metal surface, polishes that surface.

The major studies concerning MAF have been done regarding the behaviors
of the process under the effect of various parameters like working gap,
mesh number of abrasive, speed of relative motion on cylindrical and flat
work-pieces taking one type of material, non-ferromagnetic or
ferromagnetic only. But limited comparative study by taking stainless steel
with ferromagnetic behavior has been done to analyze the surface
roughness that is generated during the process.

 This paper has aim of development of Magnetic Abrasive

Finishing Process & studying the effect of the process
parameters (percent composition of iron powder, mesh number
of abrasive and current) on the surface roughness during MAF of
ferromagnetic S.S. work-piece material for flat work-pieces. The
results of the experiments are statistically analyzed using design
expert v.7 software for the responses generated during the
process.

In case of ferromagnetic work-piece, percent composition of iron
powder has more effect than the other parameters. With
increase in mesh size of abrasive, percent improvement in
surface roughness increases. With increase in current the
percent improvement in surface roughness value increases much
more than the other parameters, therefore effect of applied
current is seen to the most significant amongst all the
parameters.

 A. Working Principle

The working gap between the work piece and the magnet is filled with magnetic
Abrasive particles (MAP), composed of ferromagnetic particles and abrasive
powder. MAP is prepared by sintering of ferromagnetic particles and abrasive
particles.The magnetic abrasive particles join each other along the lines of
magnetic force and form a flexible magnetic abrasive brush (FMAB) between the
work piece and the magnetic pole .This brush behaves like a multi-point cutting
tool for finishing operation. When the magnetic N-pole is rotating, the Magnetic
Abrasive Finishing Brush (MAFB) also rotates like a flexible grinding wheel and
finishing is done according to the forces acting on the abrasive particles. .

In external finishing of cylindrical surface, the cylindrical work piece rotates
between the magnetic poles, with the MAP filled in both the gaps on either side
(Fig 1). Whereas in internal finishing of cylindrical surface, the work piece rotates
between the magnetic poles and the MAP .as shown in Figure 2. The magnetic
field generator can be either electromagnetic coils or permanent magnets. The
relative motion between the induced abrasive particles of the FMAB and work
piece generates the necessary shearing action at the abrasivework-piece
interface to remove material from the work-piece in the form of miniature chips.

 II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Change in the strength of magnetic field in the direction of the line of magnetic
force near the work-piece surface will actuate the magnetic abrasive particle.
The effective way of changing the force/finishing pressure and rigidity of MAFB is
through the change in diameter D of magnetic abrasive particle. Hence,
ferromagnetic particles of several times the diameter of diamond abrasive d
are mixed to form the magnetic abrasive brush. MAF is affected by the material,
shape and size of the work-piece, and shape and size of the magnetic pole.
Pressure increases with increase in flux density and decreases as the clearance
gap between tool & work-piece increases. Larger the particle size, poorer the
finishing (except for 50m particles) but higher is the stock removal which
increases linearly with finishing time [1].

The surface roughness is predicted as a function of finishing time by a model
that has been derived from the removed volume of material. Thus, it is possible,
from the surface-roughness model, to predict the time when existing scratches
are completely removed [2]. The magnetic force acting on the magnetic abrasive,
controlled by the field at the finishing area, is considered the primary influence
on the abrasive behavior against the inner surface of the work-piece. [3].