Morphology of Finished Brass Surface by Thermal Additive Centrifugal Abrasive Flow Machining Process Using Novel Electrode

Thermal additive centrifugal abrasive flow machining (TACAFM) is the latest hybrid of abrasive flow machining, which involves a combination of centrifugal action of rotating electrode and the spark to manage the limitation of low material removal (MR). The present investigation involves the study of the morphology of internal surface hollow cylindrical brass surface finished by TACAFM process. The researchers proposed a novel spline-shaped centrifugal force-generating electrode with a curved blade instead of straight blade for improving the process efficiency. The computation of MR and percentage improvement in surface finish (%ΔRa) is done using the proposed electrode with curved blade, and the results are compared with the primitive electrode with straight blade against the process parameters (supply current, duty cycle, abrasive concentration, rotational speed of centrifugal force generating electrode and the extrusion pressure). The surface roughness plot using Taylor-Hobson tallysurf, micrographs taken by optical microscope and SEM images were used for analysis of the finished workpiece surface. The proposed electrode resulted in an 8.5% increase in MR and 27.38%ΔRa compared to initial straight spline-shaped electrode used for TACAFM process. Also, XRD and EDAX analysis was done to predict the morphological change on the finished workpiece surface.