Title: Elucidating the optimal parameters of a helical passageway in abrasive flow machining

Authors: A. Cheng Wang; Ken-Chuan Cheng; Kuan-Yu Chen; Cheng-Chin Chien

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology, 229, Jiansing Rd., Chung Li, Taoyuan County 32023, Taiwan ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology, 229, Jiansing Rd., Chung Li, Taoyuan County 32023, Taiwan ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, 200, Chung Pei Rd., Chung Li, Taoyuan County 32023, Taiwan ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, 200, Chung Pei Rd., Chung Li, Taoyuan County 32023, Taiwan

Abstract: The machining method of effortless, low-cost and high effective polishing called abrasive flow machining (AFM) is developed to obtain high quality products for surface polishing. However, a smoother surface is not easily created after polishing since one-way motion of abrasive media in traditional AFM. Hence, this study designs a novel helical core to perform multiple flowing paths of an abrasive medium to improve the surface roughness (SR). In this investigation, Taguchi method is adopted to find out the optimal parameters of a helical core first; then, hole with or without a helical core is studied to verify the polishing effect of a helical passageway. The results represent an excellent solution that the helical passageway performed better in reducing roughness improvement ratio (RIR) by approximately 77% compared to RIR near 60% for the original circular passageway. Moreover, this study also demonstrates the efficiency of the helical passageway in surface roughness uniformity based on the percentage of improvement ratio around 70%.

Keywords: abrasive flow machining; AFM; helical passageway; Taguchi methods; helical core design; surface roughness; surface quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSURFSE.2015.068239

International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering, 2015 Vol.9 No.2/3, pp.145 - 158

Received: 31 Dec 2013
Accepted: 07 Jul 2014

Published online: 26 Mar 2015 *

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