Experimental Investigations into Ultrasonic-Assisted Magnetic Abrasive Finishing of Freeform Surface

Ultrasonic-assisted magnetic abrasive finishing (UAMAF) is a hybrid finishing process that integrates the effect of ultrasonic vibrations in the magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) process. This paper evaluates the finishing performance of freeform surface by UAMAF process with bonded abrasives. The bonded magnetic abrasive particles (MAPs) were prepared by sintering iron powder with SiC particles. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the effect of process parameters, experiments were designed using surface response methodology technique. Parameters, namely rotational speed of tool (N), working gap (D), abrasive weight percentage (%wt SiC), and surface angle, were considered as process variables and percentage change in surface roughness (%Delta R-a) was taken as process response. A quadratic model has been developed by performing analysis of variance for the obtained results. The results show that working gap is the most significant parameter followed by surface angle, RPM, and %wt SiC, respectively. The optimum %Delta R-a is found out to be 77.25%.