A comparative study: polishing characteristics and its mechanisms of three vibration modes in vibration-assisted magnetic abrasive polishing

The automatic precision polishing technique of three-dimensional complicated micro-curved surfaces of components in extremely low surface roughness and high efficiency is greatly demanded by advanced industrial fields. The existing polishing methods have great difficulty in satisfying these demands. Therefore, three modes (horizontal vibration, vertical vibration and compound vibration) of vibration-assisted magnetic abrasive polishing processes have been developed. Previous research focused on each polishing characteristic. The aims of this paper are to characterize effects of vibration of workpiece on magnetic field, polishing pressure, in-process abrasive behavior and polishing performances in three vibration modes and to describe their machining mechanism. Furthermore, a realization of efficient polishing of a 3D micro-curved surface was confirmed to be possible by the process.