ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 920–926

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Finishing effects of spiral polishing method on micro lapping surface$

Biing-Hwa Yana,, Hsinn-Jyh Tzengb, Fuang Yuan Huanga,
Yan-Cherng Linc, Han-Ming Chowc
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, Chung-Li, Taiwan 32054, ROC
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Technology, Tainan, Taiwan 71005, ROC
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nan Kai Institute of Technology, Nantou, Taiwan 54210, ROC
Received 12 April 2006; received in revised form 25 July 2006; accepted 31 July 2006
Available online 10 October 2006

Abstract

This study presents a spiral polishing method and a device for micro-finishing purposes. This novel finishing process has wider
application than traditional processes. This offers both automation and flexibility in final machining operations for deburring, polishing,
and removing recast layers, thereby producing compressive residual stresses even in difficult to reach areas. Applying of this method can
obtain a fine polished surface by removing tiny fragments via a micro lapping generated by transmission of an abrasive medium through
a screw rod. The effect of the removal of the tiny fragments can be achieved due to the function of micro lapping. The method is not
dependent on the size of the work-piece’s application area in order to carry out the ultra precise process. The application of this research
can be extended to various products of precision ball-bearing lead screw. The proposed method produces products with greater precision
and more efficiently than traditional processes, in terms of processing precisions and the surface quality of products. These parameters
used in achieving maximum material removal rate (MRR) and the lowest surface roughness (SR) are abrasive particle size, abrasive
concentration, gap, revolution speed and machining time.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Spiral polishing method; Micro-finishing; Material removal rate (MRR); Surface roughness (SR)

1. Introduction efficiency and accuracy methods has become an important

In recent years, the demand of precision products has
become variedly. The researches of the polishing techni-
ques are numerous. The spiral polishing method is one of
the applications of the techniques such as the manufacture
and production of aerospace components, vehicles trans-
mission, the automotive parts, the bio-medicines, the dyes
and high-volume electronic parts, the finishing of precision
ball-bearing screws and so on. These parts are not easy to
polish, and also lean towards small, complex shapes, highly
précised products, especially the components with the
transmission precision guide screw or the complex super-
ficial micro spiral line. The technology of providing high
$ microscopic changes in the surface texture resulting from
This paper has not been published nor has it been submitted for
publication elsewhere.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 3 4267353; fax: +886 3 4254501.
E-mail address: bhyen@cc.ncu.edu.tw (B.-H. Yan).
research topic. The most important method is the applica-
tions of polishing surfaces using abrasive flow machining
(AFM). Gorana et al. [1] studied the influence of
controllable variables, extrusion pressure, abrasive con-
centration and grain size on material removal, surface
roughness, cutting forces and active grain density using
AFM. Jain et al. [2–4] suggested that the effect of different
process parameters, such as abrasive concentration, abra-
sive mesh size and media flow speed, on material removal
rate (MRR) and surface finish. Heat transfer in AFM has
also been analyzed with a focus on heat flowing to the
work-piece and medium. Furthermore, the specific energy
and tangential force according to machining parameters of
AFM were also drawn. Yamaguchi et al. [5] examined the
processing. In addition to the surface roughness measure-
ment, atomic force and scanning electron microscopy were
used to characterize the material removal process and

0890-6955/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2006.07.009
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B.-H. Yan et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 920–926
provide a fundamental understanding of the process
mechanism. Jha et al. [6] showed that the magnetorheolo-
gical abrasive flow finishing (MRAFF) process provides
better control over rheological properties of abrasive laden
magnetorheological finishing medium. Singh et al. [7–10]
elucidated the effect of magneto AFM on the surface
roughness and the MRR. The parameters of material
removal were optimized and the surface roughness was
reduced by applying the magneto AFM process in the
Taguchi experimental design and ANOVA.
Kuriyagawa et al. [11] investigated the electrorheological
fluid-assisted micro-spherical generator system which is
capable of micro-grinding and micro-polishing on the same
machine, and demonstrated the excellent polishing perfor-
mance of small area after grinding process. Jain et al. [12]
also established the use of neural network for modeling and
optimal selection of input parameters of AFM process.
However, these existed methods employ affiliated pistons
to impel the abrasive medium and make the straight
reciprocating main motion. It is difficult to process the
complex surface. The abrasive medium migration is slow as
well. Comparing with the micro abrasive medium with
spiral polishing method, the existed methods are poor at
the processing efficiency.
The solution to these problems is the micro abrasive
medium with spiral polishing method as a process of finish
machining (polishing, deburring, residual edge removal,
etc.), lengthens the product life, and can effectively remove
the fragments, and reduce the surface roughness. Thus, the
surface of the hole can be quickly and effectively polished,
and the results of previous polishing improved. Therefore,
this investigation aims to develop a new method with spiral
polishing, specially suited for the complex surface of the
precise transmission part, bio-medicine engineering or
defense military purpose of components, such as the ball-
bearing lead screw, bio-medicine of micro channel to inject
the mold, the skeleton of tiny fixed needle or the gun tube
of screw barrel rifling.
A schematic diagram of the spiral-lapping mechanism is
shown in Fig. 1. This investigation applies a high-speed
spiral revolution to make the abrasive media flown and
circulated around the work-piece during the polishing
process. Fig. 1(a) displays the interaction among the screw,
work-piece and abrasive media before machining. Fig. 1(b)
depicts the abrasive media flow condition involved during
machining process. When operating the screw with either
high or low revolution speed, the abrasive medium will be
taken up by the spiral groove of the screw. As a result of
this action, the abrasive medium comes in direct contact
with the work-piece. The distance the abrasive medium
moves across the surface of the work-piece is farther than
that for the method of AFM. Compared with the simple
‘‘back and forth’’ method in the AFM, this is the result of
the spiral rotation when the abrasive medium moves across
the work-piece surface. This spiral polishing method also
homogenously polished the work-piece surface whereas the
method of AFM is not uniform. The abrasive medium cost
921
less and removes more material thereby obtaining better
result in terms of accuracy and precision than the method
of AFM.
2. Experimental apparatus and procedure
2.1. Experimental apparatus
A schematic diagram of experimental apparatus is
shown in Fig. 2. The experimental apparatus for the micro
abrasive medium with a spiral polishing method utilizes the
fixed rotating screw to take up the abrasive medium along
with the screw’s spiral groove. Fig. 2(a) displays the
experimental setup. Fig. 2(b) depicts the fixture of
experimental setup. The abrasive medium contacts the
work-piece directly during this action. The abrasive
medium thus removes tiny fragments and debris from the
work-piece surface. The required apparatus was assembled
in such manner that it is a closed system. During apparatus
operation the abrasive medium taken up by the screw did
not escape but was able to be re-circulated back to the
original source for reuse. Operating with high speeds, the
rotating screw polishes the work-piece surface. The
abrasive medium is forced against the internal surface of
the work-piece by the rotating screw. This abrasive
medium is ideal for method of polishing and micro
finishing.
2.2. Experimental material
The essential properties of alloy steel given in Table 1
were used as the work-piece material displayed in Fig. 3.
The slurry consisted of SiC abrasive grains and polymer,
wax and silicone carrier oil used as the machining medium.
The mixture of polymer, wax and silicone oil is mixed with
abrasive grains 12, 30 and 150 mm. The initial abrasive
medium is similar to a high viscosity gel but has better
condensation characteristics as shown in Fig. 4.
2.3. Procedure
These were adopted to explore the effects of the
parameters, including abrasive grain size (D), abrasive
concentration (C), gap (G), revolution speed (R), and
machining time (T) affect experimentally observed
values. Furthermore, the surface roughness and MRR of
the hole were chosen as the experimentally observed values
to determine the effects of machining on finishing efficiency
of finishing. The experimental conditions are shown in
Table 2. Improvements in SR, MRR, working tempera-
ture, and medium viscosity, as well as observations were
recorded.
3. Results and discussion
The spiral polishing is applied for micro finishing using
an abrasive medium. This abrasive medium is not removed
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Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of spiral lapping mechanism. (a) The interaction among the screw, work-piece and abrasive media before machining and (b)
the abrasive media flow condition involved during machining process.
by cutting tools or grinding wheels. Therefore, the primary
precision factor of precision is the use of a loose abrasive
medium rather than cutting tools or grinding wheels. The
ability of the abrasive medium in the process to finished
areas is governed by various factors, such as abrasive
particle size, abrasive concentration, gap, revolution speed
and machining time. To further understand the influence of
this parameter, the experimental results are further
discussed below.
3.1. Relationship between MRR and surface precision on
machining conditions
3.1.1. Relationship between medium viscosity and machining
time
The initial viscosity is influenced by the abrasive particle
size, and concentration which has a high viscosity that
decrease significantly with machining time. For various of
abrasive particle sizes of 150, 30 or 12 mm, the medium
viscosity reduces as machining time increases, it indicates
that fluidity and stickiness of the abrasive medium are
suitable for micro surface machining.
Fig. 5 reveals the variation in average apparent viscosity
with revolution speed and machining time. Increasing the
machining time leads to decrease the viscosity and improve
the fluidity. The viscosity of the medium also decreases
with an increasing revolution speed due to its strong effect
on the medium’s initial viscosity, resulting in the modula-
tion of the fluidity of medium. Although the efficiency of
material removal is decreased, the superficial lapping state
could be reached since the lower removing speed is owing
to its insufficient bounding forces. The micro finishing
ability of abrasive fluid is strengthened, leading to super
precision and also excellent surface roughness.
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B.-H. Yan et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 920–926 923

Fig. 3. A schematic diagram of work-piece.

Fig. 4. Graph of initial abrasive medium (12 mm, 50%).

Table 2
Fig. 2. A schematic diagram of experimental apparatus: (a) Experimental
Experimental conditions
setup and (b) fixture.
Machining parameters Description

Table 1 Abrasive particle size (mm), D 12, 30, 150

Essential properties of work-piece material Concentration (%), C 30, 40, 50
Gap (mm), G 0.5, 0.8, 1
Items Description Revolution speed (rpm), R 600, 800, 1000
Machining time (min), T 30, 45, 60, 75, 90
Material Alloy steel
Dimension (mm) 30.7 OD  7.6 mm ID  8 mm H
Tensile strength (MPa) 880–1030
increases to 120 min due to the viscosity of medium
Yield strength (MPa) 785–930
Impact (Kg-m/cm2) 8 decreased as time increases, and leads to the dust or the
Elongation (%) 12 ashes easily remained in abrasive medium. The tiny
Hardness HRc 27–28 fragments from the slurry are likely to spread the surface.

3.1.3. Effects of abrasive concentration on surface roughness

3.1.2. Effects of abrasive particle on surface roughness
Fig. 6 shows the variation in surface roughness for
different abrasive particle and machining time. Machining
with small abrasive particle of 12 mm at a concentration of
50% and machining time of 90 min improves surface
roughness. The surface finish worsens as machining time
Fig. 7 demonstrates the variation in surface roughness
for different concentrations and machining times. At the
abrasive particle size 12 mm, abrasive concentration 50%,
because actual participation in the abrasion processing
needs the quantity to be more, and machining time to be
increased, the situation is suitable for improvement effect
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1.6 of the hole inside. Moreover, the use of slurry that

consisted of SiC abrasive and medium had low viscosity
Average apparent viscosity ( kN.sm-2)

abrasive particle size: 12µm

1.5
concentration: 50%
and high fluidity, so it was easy to pass through the hole of
gap:0.5mm machined surface. However, a high concentration (50%)
600rpm and small SiC (12 mm) in medium are associated with better
800rpm surface roughness. The surface quality is improved under
1.4 1000rpm conditions of a small gap (0.5 mm) and high revolution
0.65 speeds (1000 rpm).
0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45 3.1.4. Relationship between MRR and medium temperature
0.40 Fig. 8 reveals the variation in MRR and temperature for
0.35 different revolution speed. Experimentally measured in-
0.30
0.25 creases in temperature are all below 5 1C, the increase in
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
MRR at various revolution speed at a given abrasive
Machining time (min)
particle and concentration. The MRR increased from a
Fig. 5. Variation in average apparent viscosity with revolution speed and 0.0533 mg/min of 600 rpm to 0.0651 mg/min when abrasive
machining time. particle was 12 mm with 50% concentration, revolution
speed of 1000 rpm, gap of 0.5 mm and 90 min of machining
time. However, the material removal caused by the smaller
abrasive particle (12 mm) is less, therefore, machining
0.26 temperature did not vary significantly in relation to the
0.24 medium temperature, regardless of particle size, concentra-
0.22 concentration: 50% tion, gap, revolution speed and machining time.
revolution speed: 1000rpm
Surface roughness Ra (µm)

0.20
gap: 0.5mm
0.18 12µm 3.1.5. Effects of gap and revolution speed on surface
0.16 30µm roughness
150µm As the machining gap narrows, the gap between the
0.14
0.12 work-piece and the screw becomes filled with abrasive
0.10 particles. Therefore, the abrasive grinding clearly removed
0.08 the stock material to finish the hole. Thus, as machining
0.06
time increased, the machined quality of the hole improved.
The improvement in the surface roughness with a gap of
0.04
0.5 mm increased with the same abrasive particle size and
0.02
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 concentration. Roughness improved from a 0.23 mm
Machining time (min) initially to 0.05 mm Ra as displayed in Fig. 9.
Fig. 10 presents the variation in surface roughness for
Fig. 6. Variation in surface roughness for different abrasive particles and
different revolution speeds and machining times. By
machining times.
machining using high and low revolution speeds at
machining conditions, superficial finishing improves at
0.26
0.24 0.50 9
abrasive particle size: 12µm abrasive particle size: 12µm
0.22 0.45 8
revolution speed: 1000rpm concentration: 50%
Material removal rate (mg/min)
Surface roughness Ra (µm)

0.20 30%
gap: 0.5mm 0.40 machining time: 90min
7
Rise in temperature(°C)

40% gap: 0.5mm Rise in temperature

0.18 0.35
50% Material removal rate 6
0.16
0.30
0.14 5
0.25
0.12 4
0.20
0.10
3
0.08 0.15
0.10 2
0.06
0.04 0.05 1
0.02 0.00 0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 600 800 1000
Machining time (min) Revolution speed (RPM)

Fig. 7. Variation in surface roughness for different concentrations and Fig. 8. Variation in material removal rate and temperature for different
machining times. revolution speed.
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B.-H. Yan et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 920–926 925

0.26 0.50 0.10

abrasive particle: 12µm- 50%
0.24 0.45 re volution speed: 1000 rpm
0.09

Material removal rate (mg/min)

0.22 abrasive particle size: 12µm 0.40 gap : 0.5mm

Surface roughness Ra (µm)

concentration: 50% 0.08
Surface roughness Ra µm)

0.20
revolution speed: 1000rpm 0.35 initial surface roughness: 0.23µm
0.18 1mm 0.07
0.30 MRR
0.8mm SR
0.16 0.25
0.5mm 0.06
0.14
0.20
0.12 0.05
0.15
0.10 0.04
0.10
0.08
0.05 0.03
0.06
0.00 0.02
0.04 30 60 90
0.02 Machining time (min)
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135
Machining time (min) Fig. 11. Variation in material removal rate and surface roughness for
different machining times.
Fig. 9. Variation in surface roughness for different gap and machining
times.

0.26
0.24
0.22 abrasive particle size: 12µm
concentration: 50%
Surface roughness Ra (µm)

0.20 600rpm
gap: 0.5mm
0.18 800rpm
1000rpm
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135
Machining time (min)

Fig. 10. Variation in surface roughness for different revolution speeds and
machining times.

1000 rpm, the abrasive particle at higher revolution speed

of screw more strongly abrades the surface.
Fig. 11 depicts the variation in MRR and surface
roughness for different machining time. The MRR is less
while using these small abrasive with highly concentrated
medium. As machining time increases, the MRR is
increased, and surface roughness is reduced further.
However, machining worsen the coherence of abrasive
particles, reducing medium viscosity and facilitating Fig. 12. SEM micrographs of surface: (a) Before machining,
fluidity. Although the smaller grit was covered by the Ra ¼ 0.23 mm, (b) after machining, 1000 rpm, Ra 0.06 mm (12 mm—
medium, but machining clearly affected surface roughness. 50%—60 min).
The surface can be improved using the smaller abrasive
particles at the machining time 90 min.
Increasing machining time also improves surface rough-
3.2. Surface morphology ness. Tool marks become visible at high concentration
50% and revolution speeds with a machining time of
Experimental results indicate that the processing is 60 min. At revolution speed of 1000rpm, the traces are
enhanced when using smaller abrasive particles, higher more obvious and more abrasive marks, which is shown in
abrasive medium concentration and revolution speed. Fig. 12(b). Roughness improved from an 0.23 mm initially
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926 B.-H. Yan et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 920–926
to 0.06 mm Ra. However, improvement to surface rough-
ness while using 12 mm particles increased.
4. Conclusions
This study addressed the machining characteristics of
spiral polishing method by applying the abrasive medium
to micro lapping surface. The results are summarized as
follows:
(1) The medium viscosity decreases as revolution speed
and machining time increases, indicating that the
fluidity and stickiness of the abrasive-laden medium
are suited to micro surface machining.
(2) The effect of medium temperature is unclear. However,
machining conditions must remain stable.
(3) A high concentration (50%) and small SiC (12 mm) in
medium are associated with better surface roughness.
The surface quality is improved under conditions of a
small gap (0.5 mm) and high revolution speeds
(1000 rpm) in the study.
(4) Improved surface finish is obtained with machining
time 90 min. However, the surface quality decreases
when machining time increases to 120 min.
(5) The micro finishing process can improve surface
roughness of the hole. Tool marks become more visible
under high magnification.
(6) The micro finishing method clearly improves the
quality of finished surfaces. This technology is low cost
and highly efficient. Consequently, this processing
technology should be developed further.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the National Science
Council of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially
supporting this research under Contract No. NSC 93-2212-
E- 008-021.
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