Development of abrasive jet polishing by using amino thermosetting plastic abrasive for aluminum alloy

• Published in: Journal of manufacturing processes 2019-07, Vol.43, p.218-228
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yansong, Lu, Wenzhuang, Zuo, Dunwen, Xiao, Heping, Cao, Dawei, Ko, Tae Jo, Wu, Jun, Yin, Yuxuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abrasive embedding; Abrasive jet polishing; Aluminum alloy; Amino thermosetting plastic abrasive
• ISSN: 1526-6125; 2212-4616
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmapro.2019.05.016

•The fabrication of the amino thermoset plastic (ATP) abrasive is developed.•ATP abrasive in abrasive jet polishing (ATP-AJP) of aluminum alloys is developed.•The abrasive embedding phenomenon can be resolved in ATP-AJP of aluminum alloys.•A different ductile erosion mechanism in AJP of ductile materials is found. A novel hybrid method, using a medium-hardness amino thermoset plastic (ATP) particles in abrasive jet polishing (AJP), was developed. Based on the theoretical and experimental analysis of the influence of critical operative variables on the trend of the polished surface, wonderful discoveries were obtained. ATP abrasive can not only be used in AJP to polish aluminum alloy and achieve uniform surface finish, but also possess a great advantage over the conventional abrasive jet polishing (AJP) technologies using superhard abrasives (e.g., Al 2O3, SiC), that is, abrasive embedding combined with ploughing-groove defeats can be resolved. This significant observation is especially expected to be useful for improving surface quality and fatigue properties of large and complex aircraft structural components made of aluminum alloys or other aerospace materials including titanium alloys and magnesium alloys.