Design and development of the magnetorheological honing process

Abstract

A new precise finishing process i.e. magnetorheological honing process for finishing of internal surfaces of cylindrical work material is developed. A computer controlled experimental setup is designed and developed for finishing of both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic work material using smart fluid named as magnetorheological polishing fluid. The MRP fluid consists of base fluid, carbonyl iron particles and abrasive particles. For the initial stage a mounting bracket is designed and analyzed for holding the servomotor and tool holder shaft. Static structural and modal analysis for the bracket was done in the Workbench 14.5 software. Stresses and total deformation acting on the bracket assembly were calculated in the static structural analysis. Frequencies at different mode shapes were calculated in the Modal analysis under the initial boundary conditions. Length of the tool holder shaft was decided on the basis of modal analysis done in Workbench 14.5 software (student version). CAD model of each part was created in the CREO 5.0 software (student version). Dimensions of the magnetorheological honing tool were decided on the basis of maximum magnetic flux density distribution at the outer surface of the tool. The preliminary experimentation was carried out on both mild steel and aluminium workpiece in order to investigate the effect of finishing time on the value of surface roughness. The initial average roughness value of ferromagnetic workpiece was 1.90 µm whereas for the aluminium workpiece was 3.25 µm. SEM analysis was also carried out in order to determine the surface morphology before/after finishing. From experimentations, it is concluded that the newly developed magnetorheological honing process has the capability to do surface finishing of internal surfaces of both ferromagnetic and non ferromagnetic work surfaces. The developed process has its likely applications in manufacturing and automotive industry.