Modeling and Energy Efficiency of Abrasive Flow Machining on Tooling Industry Case Study

On account on nowadays trends in the field of finishing, hand polishing has to be replaced with superior process. An alternative is abrasive flow machining (AFM). In this paper, the influence of the process parameters and abrasive fluid flow on surface integrity, i.e. surface roughness and micro geometry, are investigated. The models correlating abrasive fluid flow and surface roughness are developed. To prove the efficiency, energy consumption analysis is performed comparing AFM and novel upgrade of it, i.e. AFM with movable rotatable mandrel. Results show that novel AFMmm is efficiently capable to remove WEDM (wire electric discharge machining) damaged surface, induce compressive residual stresses and produce polishing surface under dry conditions. Moreover, the novel upgrade of AFM process is besides finishing, capable also controlling the micro topography of the product.