Comparative Analysis of Dry and Oiled Magnetic Abrasive Finishing Techniques for Improving the Roughness of Complex Surfaces

Abstract The development of modern industries necessitates complexity and the creation of manufactured models to keep pace with advancements. Magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) is the most prominent finishing technique due to its effectiveness and efficiency without damaging the part. This study fills a research gap by directly comparing dry and lubricated magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) using hybrid abrasive particles on geometrically complex surfaces, with surface quality evaluated through non-contact laser scanning and SEM. This work investigates the effect of adding lubricating oil to the abrasive grain finishing technique, comparing this finishing with traditional dry finishing. The magnetic abrasive grains used were prepared from a hybrid mixture consisting of two types of abrasive particles: silicon carbide (SiC) and tungsten carbide (WC), with the addition of iron particles to enhance the magnetic attraction force. The tool was magnetized with a permanent neodymium magnet. Three operational variables were controlled at three levels: feed rate, tool rotation speed, and particle size. The surface roughness of the samples was measured before and after the finishing process to assess the improvement. Since the designs of the samples used for the experiments were non-planar, they were difficult to inspect using conventional techniques. Therefore, laser scanning technology, in addition to scanning electron microscopy, was used to assess surface defects. Experimental results showed that the oillubricated finishing process performed better than the dry finishing process, with the oil-lubricated finishing process achieving an improvement of approximately 66.4% compared to the dry finishing process, which achieved a 36.9% improvement under the same operating conditions. The experimental results demonstrated that the level of influence of these variables on finishing performance may vary depending on the external operating conditions.