Analysis of forces on the freeform surface in magnetorheological fluid based finishing process

The magnetorheological (MR) fluid based finishing process is a deterministic process for finishing of flat, curved and freeform surfaces. In case of finishing, the knowledge of forces acting on the curved workpiece surface in different conditions improves the understanding of the process. An experimental investigation is carried out to measure the forces on the freeform surface in real time. The effects of the process parameters such as angle of curvature of the workpiece, rotational speed of the tool and feed rate on normal, tangential and axial forces, are studied. The normal force is found to be more dominant compared to other forces. A theoretical model of normal force and tangential force acting on the workpiece is also proposed to improve the understanding of the workpiece–abrasive particles interaction in the MR fluid based finishing process. A comparison of theoretical and experimental results is carried out to validate the proposed models, which show that the trends are in good agreement.

► Analysis of force acting on freeform surface is carried out in MRFF process.
► Tool rotational speed, feed rate and angle of curvature of workpiece are studied.
► A theoretical model of normal and tangential force is developed.