Analysis of surface texture generated by a flexible magnetic abrasive brush

The application of magnetic field in the control of manufacturing processes has become of interest in recent past. In magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) process, magnetic force plays a dominant role in the formation of flexible magnetic abrasive brush (FMAB) and developing abrasion pressure. The process is still in its infancy in many respects. Most of the previous research has explored the process characteristics and mechanism from a macroscopic point of view using surface roughness profiles. This paper examines the microscopic changes in the surface texture resulting from the MAF process to characterise the behavior of abrasive particles during finishing. In addition to the surface roughness measurement, atomic force and scanning electron microscopy have been carried out to gain insight of the wear pattern of the finished surface. The observed surface texture indicates that the process creates micro scratches having width less than 0.5 μm on the finished surface. Moreover, the surface is finished by the shearing of the peaks resulting in circular lays formed by the rotation of the FMAB.