Belt-Type Magnetorheological Finishing Setup—A Novel Design and Simulation Study

AbstractA novel belt-type setup for magnetorheological finishing (MRF) has been designed to solve the issue of the small finishing spot, while surface finishing using the traditional MRF process. In the case of big sized workpiece, multiple runs are needed to finish the complete surface due to which it takes much time in finishing. The presented setup is having a flexible belt which runs over the magnetized base plate. The running belt carries the magnetorheological polishing (MRP) fluid. MRP fluid gets magnetized while coming in contact with the magnetic field at the magnetized base plate. The workpiece is held in a fixture that can be tilted and turned completely for finishing the entire surface of the workpiece. A three-dimensional externally curved surface can also be finished using the present setup along with a flat big sized workpiece. The intensity of magnetic field can be controlled by varying the magnetizing current to the electromagnet. The finishing action can be controlled by controlling the process parameters such as magnetizing current, belt speed, MRP fluid parameters, etc. In this research work, a novel belt-type MR finishing setup has been designed based on the magnetic simulation studies.KeywordsMagnetorheological finishingSmart fluidMagnetic flux densityPrecision surface finishFlexible beltElectromagnet