Magnetorheological finishing of polyamide materials for improving their functional performance

The fine finishing of polyamide plays an important role in various industries such as tool and molding industries, aerospace and automotive, etc. The current work offers an analytical and experimental analysis of a novel magnetorheological finishing (MRF) process for the fine finishing of polyamide workpieces. In the MRF process, a magnetic field is utilized to push abrasive particles in the magnetorheological polishing (MRP) fluid to intrude on and remove material from the polyamide surface. The current work aims to improve the surface finishing of polyamide workpieces using the MRF process with the best possible MRP fluid, thus improving their working efficiency for various industrial applications. The response surface method is further used to find the best process parameters for the fine finishing polyamide workpiece surfaces. The process parameters naming magnetizing current, rotational tool speed, reciprocation tool speed, and rotational speed of workpiece are used for investigating the uniform finish of the polyamide workpieces. In the 100 min of the finishing cycle, the surface finish on a surface area of 706.5 mm(2) is improved by 82.14%. Further, the efficacy of polyamide surface post MRF process is analyzed experimentally using surface roughness, surface morphology, waviness, microhardness, and wear test. The result shows the present MRF process tends to improve the life span of polyamide workpieces which is useful for the application of various industrial components such as gears, bearings, and bushings.