Uniform surface polished method of complex holes in abrasive flow machining

Abstract

Abrasive flow machining(AFM) is an effective method that can remove the recasting layer produced by wire electrical discharge machining(WEDM). However, the surface roughness will not be easily uniform when a complex hole is polished by this method. CFD numerical method is aided to design good passageways to find the smooth roughness on the complex hole in AFM. Through the present method, it reveals that the shear forces in the polishing process and the flow properties of the medium in AFM play the roles in controlling the roughness on the entire surface. A power law model was firstly set up by utilizing the effect of shear rates on the medium viscosities, and the coefficients of the power law would be found by solving the algebraic equation from the relations between the shear rates and viscosities. Then the velocities, strain rates and shear forces of the medium acting on the surface would be obtained in the constant pressure by CFD software. Finally, the optimal mold core put into the complex hole could be designed after these simulations. The results show that the shear forces and strain rates change sharply on the entire surface if no mold core is inserted into the complex hole, whereas they hardly make any difference when the core shape is similar to the complex hole. Three experimental types of mold core were used. The results demonstrate that the similar shape of the mold core inserted into the hole could find the uniform roughness on the surface. © 2009 The Nonferrous Metals Society of China.