INVESTIGATION ON FINISHING OF EXTERNAL SURFACES USING ABRASIVE FLOW MACHINING

Abstract

Manufacturing of any mechanical component involves many processes. Finishing process is the final part of this chain that helps in improving the quality of that component considerably. Abrasive flow machining is an innovative finishing technique to finish the intricate and complex surfaces with close tolerances by removing micro to nano-level material. The present report presents the finishing of external surface using abrasive flow machining. Owing to rise in the demands for industrial applications of microchannels, finishing of microchannels has been selected for investigation in this study. Workpieces have been prepared by using the microultrasonic machining. Influences of process parameters were investigated while fabricating microchannels on silicon wafers. Box Benkhen design (BBD) approach was used for planning while response surface methodology (RSM) approach was used to analyze the results. Fabrication of microchannels using microultrasonic machining results in high surface asperities owing to hammering action of the hard abrasives. Such roughness on the surface of the microchannel affects the flow through the microchannels significantly. The present work focuses on the development of appropriate fixture to finish the external surface of microchannels, fabricated by Ultrasonic Machining (USM), by Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM). The influence of each process parameters was investigated while finishing microchannels on AFM. Central composite design (CCD) technique was used to plan the experimental trials. The response curves illustrating the individual effect and the combined effect of process parameters have also been presented.