Title: Study on the material removal mechanism in abrasive flow processing based on the tribology viewpoint

Authors: K.H. Zhang; S.P. Wang; J.F. Ding; J.L. Yuan

Addresses: Institute of Precision Machinery, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, 321004, China ' Institute of Precision Machinery, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, 321004, China ' Institute of Precision Machinery, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, 321004, China ' Ultra-Precision Machining Center, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China

Abstract: In the present work, the material removing mechanism in the abrasive flow processing was analysed based on the tribology viewpoint. The tribology behaviours such as viscous effect, plowing effect and particle impact were identified as the main affecting factors. Furthermore, the motion model of the abrasive flow in the circular tube was established and analysed with rheological theory, and the removing effect of the abrasive flow was experimentally tested. The results showed that measurement of wall pressure precisely reflects the removing effects of the abrasive flow, which is mainly characterised by the radial force. With the experimental setups used in the present study, the averaged radial and axial forces of the wall surface were found to be 16.8 and 0.57 MPa, respectively, with the former about 29 times in magnitude of the latter.

Keywords: abrasive flow machining; tribology; plowing effect; machining mechanism; material removal; viscous effect; particle impact; motion modelling; circular tube; rheology; wall pressure; radial force.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2015.075237

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2015 Vol.11 No.5/6, pp.261 - 274

Received: 10 Aug 2014
Accepted: 04 Nov 2015
Published online: 08 Mar 2016 *

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