Turbo-Abrasive Machining

Mass finishing complex part shapes is one of the most challenging problems facing manufacturers today. Many parts are still manually deburred and finished because of their complex geometric forms. This labor intensive manual handling and finishing of parts and components have had a negative impact on manufacturing process productivity and the uniformity of surface finish quality.

A recent development, TURBO-ABRASIVE technology for edge and surface finishing or final machining utilizes free abrasive grain, has been a cost effective and efficient alternative to manual finishing of complex part shapes. TURBO-ABRASIVE finishing or machining (TAM) offers an economical and environmentally friendly method for mechanizing, automating and simplifying finishing operations that until now required manual deburring and/or finishing. Additionally, the TAM finishing method offers surface finishes that are substantially improved when compared with manual or less advanced finishing procedures.

The technology for Turbo-Abrasive finishing of complex part shapes (TAM - technology) was an outgrowth of research carried out in the mid 1970's, but has not been available for use in North America until very recently. This technology has several advantages in comparison with several other mechanical finishing processes. Some of these advantages are:

• The high flow of free abrasive grain allows for penetration of abrasive media particles into difficult to access part areas that require edge and surface finish improvement.
• Low energy consumption;
• Simple tooling, processing, and maintenance requirements;
• Combination of sufficiently high rates of metal removal with improved physical and mechanical properties of metal surfaces, including residual compressive stress and contact rigidity improvements.

This new technology provides the solution for many surface finishing problems that cannot be efficiently processed by conventional methods and have until now required significant use of skilled manual labor.

To read the full White Paper click here.

Pegco Process Labs., Div. Of Kearsarge Peg Co. Inc., 44 Kearsarge Street, Bartlett, NH 03812. Tel: 603-374-2341; Fax: 603-374-2366.