Development and evaluation of advanced abrasive flow machining technique

Abstract

ADVANCEMENT in material sciences has led to the development of smart engineering materials viz. composites, ceramics, polymers and super-alloys. These materials find exhaustive use in modern manufacturing industries, especially, in aircraft, automobiles, cutting tools, die and mold making industries. Higher costs associated with the machining of these materials besides stringent design requirements, which include precision machining of complex and complicated shapes and/or sizes, machining of inaccessible areas at micro or nano levels with tight tolerances are the major limitations which have led to the development of newer advanced non-traditional machining processes. Abrasive flow machining (AFM) is a novel technique having potential to provide high precision and economical means of finishing inaccessible areas and complex internal passages on otherwise difficult to machine material and components. AFM has been likened to a semi-solid flowing file wherein the media acts as a flexible cutting tool whenever it is subjected to any restriction; and perhaps its greatest advantage lies in its ability to finish, deburr, polish, radius and removing the recasted layers from complex internal passages or areas that are inaccessible to more traditional methods such as mechanical honing. The vast potential applications and capabilities of the AFM process attract the attention of machinists and make it imperative upon researchers to overcome the major limitations of the process. The present research initiative identifies the limitations and gaps through exhaustive review of published literature on AFM technique with the intent to explore the possibilities for improving the efficiency and capabilities of the process/technique. It has been recognized that very few research studies have been conducted on the optimization of the process parameters for enhanced quality characteristics. Therefore, it is required to study the AFMed surfaces to get more insight into the real interaction between flowing abrasive particles