Ultrasonic assisted magnetic abrasive finishing of hardened AISI 52100 steel using unbonded SiC abrasives

Ultrasonic assisted magnetic abrasive finishing (UAMAF) integrates the use of ultrasonic vibrations and magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) process to finish surfaces to nanometer order in a relatively short time. The present study emphasizes on the fabrication of UAMAF setup. Using this experimental setup, experimental studies have been carried out with respect to five important process parameters namely supply voltage, abrasive mesh number, rotation of magnet, abrasive weight percentage, and pulse on time (Ton) of ultrasonic vibrations selected based on literature available in the area of MAF process and ultrasonic generator controls. Percentage change in surface roughness (∆Ra) for AISI 52100 steel workpiece has been considered as response and unbonded SiC abrasives are used in the work. The experimental results showed that the UAMAF process has better finishing potential as compared to those obtainable by using MAF process for similar processing conditions. The surface roughness value obtained by UAMAF was as low as 22 nm within 80 s on hardened AISI 52100 steel workpiece using unbonded SiC abrasives. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy studies were carried out to feel the surface texture produced and to identify finishing mechanism.