An ultra-high-precision magnetic abrasive finishing process was proposed for improving the surface accuracy and dimensional accuracy of microscale-diameter STS 304 bar used in many applications such as, medical, aerospace, and nuclear industries. Most of the previous research has already explored the conventional finishing technique to improve the accuracy of material in terms of the surface roughness, change in diameter, and material removal weight.
However, their results are still not good enough for the requirement in the today’s engineering industry. Especially, when the workpiece is a material of microscale -diameter, use of such conventional processes becomes impossible because they entail the application of high pressures that may damage the surface to be finished. Moreover, less control is available over these conventional finishing processes.
In this study, an ultra-high-precision magnetic abrasive finishing process was applied to the precision machining of microscale-diameter STS 304 bar and the experimental work are performed with many critical parameters such as, different workpiece revolution speeds (1,000 rpm, 10,000 rpm, 20,000 rpm, and 40,000 rpm), different abrasive grain sizes (0.5 μm, 1 μm, 3 μm, and 9 μm), different pole vibrations (0 Hz, 5 Hz, 9 Hz, and 12 Hz), different finishing temperatures (-110℃, 26℃, and 100℃), and different atmospheric conditions.
The results showed that in terms of material removal weight, 26℃ is found to the be highest followed by 3 μm, 12 Hz, and then 40,000 rpm. In terms of the machining depth, the 26℃ is found to be highest followed by 3 μm, 12 Hz, and then 40,000 rpm. The initial surface roughness of 0.20 μm (Ra) is decreased to 0.025 μm with 0.5 μm of abrasive grain size and pole vibration 12Hz at 40,000 rpm.