Mechanism of material removal in ball end magnetorheological finishing process

► Mechanism of material removal and surface finishing were analyzed in a newly developed BEMRF process. ► Magnetic field induced normal force was identified as the most important process parameter in present finishing process. ► Proposed a model to predict the magnetic normal force acting on abrasive particles during surface finishing. ► The proposed model was compared with the experimentally obtained results which were found in close agreement. ► Effects of variation in magnetic normal force were observed experimentally in terms of % change in surface roughness.