JMEPEG (2022) 31:1170–1186 ASM International

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-021-06228-8 1059-9495/$19.00

Tribological Performance Evaluation of Ball Burnished

Magnesium Alloy for Bioresorbable Implant Applications
G.V. Jagadeesh and Srinivasu Gangi Setti

Submitted: 30 April 2021 / Revised: 10 July 2021 / Accepted: 6 August 2021 / Published online: 20 September 2021

The application range of magnesium alloys is restricted because of poor tribological performance. The
present study focuses on improving the tribological characteristics of magnesium Ze41A alloy by ball
burnishing process. The lowest wear rate of 2.997 3 (10)23 mm3/m, CoF of 0.116 and interface temperature
of 38 °C are obtained by ball burnishing process. The SEM examination at optimum burnishing condition
reveals the oxidative wear mechanism, while the milled surface exhibited plastic deformation mechanism
under similar wear conditions. The significant enhancement in tribological performance of magnesium
Ze41A alloy is apparently due to the improvement in surface roughness and microhardness during ball
burnishing process. The wear rate has been decreased by 51.22%, CoF by 72.58 and interfacial temper-
ature by 39.68% at the optimum burnishing condition as compared to initial milling condition under
similar wear conditions. Additionally, the tribological performance is evaluated by fuzzy interface system
and the model found to estimate the results with an average absolute error of 4.92%.

the coefficient of friction. The optimum ball burnishing process

Keywords ball burnishing, biomaterials, corrosion, fuzzy logic,
orthopaedic implants, wear
1. Introduction
A high-quality super-finish on the engineering components
is essential for improving the wear performance. Hence, the
super-finishing operations are found to be critical for industrial
innovation (Ref 1). Ball burnishing process has been one of the
popular super-finishing operations in aerospace and automobile
applications from quite a long time (Ref 2). Unlike conven-
tional finishing and super-finishing process, ball burnishing
process is a non-chip removal process (Ref 3). It displaces the
material from the ’ridges’ to ’depressions’ by inducing plastic
deformation through a rotating ball, as represented in Fig. 1.
The required burnishing force for the material displacement has
been supplied by burnishing tool (Ref 4). Also, the ball
burnishing process is an eco-green process, easily imple-
mentable and highly compatible with conventional machining
processes (Ref 5). The ball burnishing process possesses
various potential features, including increased surface finish,
microhardness and compressive residual stress (Ref 6), which
essentially improve the tribological, tribocorrosion and corro-
sion performance (Ref 3). For instance, ball burnishing of
titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) alloy resulted in reduction of specific
wear rate by 52%, with the lowest value of 3.29 9 104 mm3/N
m and coefficient of friction by 64%, with the lowest value of
0.18 (Ref 7). The burnishing force and number of passes had
major effects in reducing the specific wear rate. Contrary, the
burnishing feed and burnishing speed had key roles in reducing
G.V. Jagadeesh and Srinivasu Gangi Setti, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Raipur,
Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492010, India. Contact e-mail:
nivassetti@gmail.com.
parameters for the lowest specific wear rate were burnishing
force 250 N, burnishing speed 30 m/min, burnishing feed
0.05 mm/rev and three number of passes. Similarly, the
optimum ball burnishing process parameters for the lowest
coefficient of friction were burnishing speed 30 m/min, bur-
nishing feed 0.05 mm/rev, burnishing force 200 N and two
number of passes. Ball burnishing of HSLA dual-phase steels
improved the wear resistance significantly. The lowest wear
resistance was achieved at burnishing force of 25 kgf, ball
diameter of 16.5 mm, speed of 22.62 m/min, feed of 0.085
mm/rev and grease as lubricant (Ref 8). Roller burnishing of Ti-
6Al-4V alloy resulted in reduction of specific wear rate
drastically. The lowest specific wear rate was basically due to
reduction in surface roughness and increase in microhardness
(Ref 2). Roller burnishing of aluminum 6061 alloy resulted in
reduction of weight loss by 92% and friction coefficient by
46%. It was observed that burnished surface produced by small
rollers depicted the lowest friction coefficient under dry sliding
wear test (Ref 9). Similarly, ultrasonic-assisted surface bur-
nishing of aluminum 7075 alloy resulted in drastic decrement
of wear. The significant reduction in wear was due to reduction
of grain size (<15 nm) and increase in surface hardness from
2.28 GPa to 2.63 Gpa. Ball burnishing of polyoxymethylene
(POM) resulted in reduction of specific wear rate by 38.6%,
with a lowest value of 0.31 9 106 mm3/N m and coefficient of
friction by 32.9%, with a lowest value of 0.22. Ball burnishing
of polyurethane (PUR) resulted in reduction of specific wear
rate by 37.9%, with a lowest value of 0.41 9 106 mm3/N m
and coefficient of friction by 28.8%, with a lowest value of 0.24
(Ref 10). Ball burnishing of low-density high molecular mass
polyethylene (LDPE) resulted in reduction of wear rate by 58%
(Ref 11). The decrease in wear rate was certainly due to the
reduced surface roughness with a lowest value of Ra = 0.57 lm.
Ball burnishing offers a better wear resistance than that of
roller burnishing. For instance, ball burnishing of Rb40 steel
resulted in 89% reduction in weight loss while roller burnishing
of Rb40 steel resulted in 98% reduction in weight loss (Ref 12).
This implies that ball burnishing process can be an ideal

1170—Volume 31(2) February 2022 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance


Fig. 1 Schematic of ball burnishing operation
technique in enhancing the tribological performance than the
other burnishing techniques. Wear improvement by ball
burnishing technique can be a direct consequence of superficial
layer hardening and surface quality. Ball burnishing of high
chromium 20X13 steel decreased the wear intensity by 3.4 to
4.5 times against 45HRC steel plate in oxidizing and non-
oxidizing medium (Ref 13). Ball burnishing of hardened
42CrMo4 steel resulted in the lowest wear volume of 0.147
mm3. The reduction in wear volume was due to induced plastic
cold strain, which caused the crystalline structure changes (Ref
14). Ball burnishing of Aluminum 6061 alloy resulted in
reduction of weight loss by 80% and friction coefficient by
48% (Ref 15). It was observed that lowest friction coefficient
was obtained at small diameter of ball. Burnishing force
beyond 225 N has an undesirable effect on the wear resistance
of burnished aluminum 6061 surfaces. The best wear resistance
was achieved at burnishing force of 160 N and speed of
330 RPM (Ref 16).
A biomaterial is designed to interact with human biological
systems to augment and replace any organ or tissue in the body
(Ref 17). Recently, distinguished biomaterials such as biomet-
als, biopolymers and bioceramics are being explored for
orthopedic applications (Ref 18). Among all, magnesium alloys
found to be a revolutionary biometal, owing to its adequate
YoungÕs modulus, high biodegradability, noble biocompatibility
and osteopromotive property (Ref 19). The YoungÕs modulus of
magnesium alloys (45 GPa) is similar to that of human bone
(15-30 GPa). Due to similar YoungÕs modulus, the stress
shielding at the bone–implant interface during load transfer can
be eliminated completely (Ref 20). The density of Mg alloys
matches with the human bone (1.75 g/cc) as well. Apart from
these, complete degradability during in vivo studies makes Mg
alloys a potential biometal for orthopaedic applications (Ref
21). Magnesium-based implants not only provide steady
mechanical support, but also degrade gradually with the
restoration of damaged bone tissue, thereby achieving the
clinical purpose as intended (Ref 22). This eliminates the
secondary operation and makes post-implantation process easy
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
while the conventional metallic implants need a second surgery,
which not only causes additional pain but also bombard huge
financial burden on the patient (Ref 23). Excessive Mg ions will
be transported through the circulatory system and excreted out
promptly through urine, without any adverse effects (Ref 24).
Magnesium alloys possess exceptional osteopromotive prop-
erty, which helps in bone healing and growth (Ref 25).
Nevertheless, the rapid degradation results in local hydrogen
accumulation and premature disintegration of mechanical
integrity, which limit their clinical orthopaedic applications
(Ref 26). The degradation rate can be controlled by increasing
the wear resistance of Mg due to tribocorrosion. Wear-
accelerated corrosion of Mg alloys can be decreased by
improving the wear resistance. Multiple attempts have been
made to study the wear behavior of Mg alloys (Ref 27). For
instance, wear behavior of the casted Mg AM60B alloy has
been evaluated to acknowledge the wear mechanisms. It was
reported that oxidation, plastic deformation, delamination and
severe plastic deformation are the predominant wear mecha-
nisms of AM60B alloy (Ref 28). Dry sliding wear on casted
Mg Ze41A alloy revealed that plastic deformation was the
prevailing wear mechanism in the severe wear zone, while
abrasion wear, oxidation wear and delamination were the
prevailing wear mechanisms in the mild wear zone (Ref 29).
Oxidative wear was the principal mechanism to control the
wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy with highest specific wear rate
(Ref 30). Extruded Mg Ze41A alloy found to exhibit better
wear resistance than that of casted alloy because of small grain
size and high hardness (Ref 31). Also, it was found that wear
rate increased linearly with the sliding velocity. Efforts were
made to improve the wear resistance of Mg alloys by surface
modification techniques. For example, WC/Cu coating on Mg
Ze41A substrate using electrical discharge coating improved
the wear behavior significantly (Ref 32). A lowest wear rate of
0.0001819 mm3/Nm and CoF of 0.015 was obtained by WC/Cu
coating. Similarly, oxyacetylene flame spraying of Al-SiC
composites on Mg Ze41A substrate provided 85% more wear
resistance than casted alloy (Ref 33). Stainless steel coatings on
Mg Ze41A substrate by high-velocity oxy fuel (HVOF)
technique improved wear resistance by 93% than casted alloy
(Ref 34).
Although these coatings improved the wear resistance of Mg
Ze41A alloy, the biocompatibility has been lost due to non-
degradable nature of coatings. However, there are certain
coating techniques which help in deploying a thin layer of
biocompatible coatings on the magnesium substrate to improve
the wear and corrosion resistance. For instance, PEO coatings
with silicate and phosphate-based electrolytes on Mg AZ91
alloy substrate improved the tribocorrosion performance sig-
nificantly. However, the improvement was higher with silicate
electrolyte than that of phosphate electrolyte (Ref 35). In
another instance, PEO coatings with hydroxyapatite on Mg
AZ31 alloy substrate resulted in significant improvement of
corrosion resistance. The Ca and P compounds of hydroxya-
patite helped in attaining better corrosion performance. Also,
hydroxyapatite coatings found to promote the cell growth and
adhesion with higher healing rates in implant applications (Ref
36). Similarly, bioactive PEO coatings with fluoride and
fluoride-free electrolytes on Mg-0.8 wt.%Ca alloy substrate
reduced the biodegradation significantly. Fluoride-based coat-
ing exhibited better bioactivity and cell adhesion than the
fluoride-free-based coating (Ref 37). Therefore, it is important
and crucial to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of Mg
Volume 31(2) February 2022—1171
Ze41A alloy without compromising on biocompatibility for
implant applications.
Soft computing techniques found to be reliable and potential
techniques in estimating the performance characteristics of a
mechanical system (Ref 38). Fuzzy interface system has been
one of the soft computing methods that establishes the
relationship between input and output matrices (Ref 39). Fuzzy
interface system builds on a set of user-defined human language
rules. These rules were converted into equivalent mathematical
functions. Any problem with imprecise and incomplete data can
be modeled into nonlinear functions of arbitrary complexity
with fuzzy interface system. Fuzzy logic can be chosen to
evaluate the surface integrity of burnishing process based on
the input variables. For instance, the surface features of
burnished brass (C3605) were estimated by fuzzy approach
with an accuracy of 95.4% (Ref 40). The mamdani interface
system with gauss shape membership function for burnishing
parameters and triangular membership function for surface
roughness was used for generating the model (Ref 40). In
another instance, surface roughness and surface hardness of ball
burnished aluminum alloy (Al 7075 T6) were evaluated by
fuzzy interface system with an error of 2.55 and 0.62%
respectively (Ref 41). The mamdani fuzzy system with
triangular membership function for input parameters and output
responses was considered for constructing the model (Ref 41).
Hence, mamdani fuzzy system with suitable membership
function can depict the responses of a ball burnishing process
effectively.
Ball burnishing process can be a potential surface modifi-
cation technique for enhancing the wear behavior without
altering the surface composition. The present study focuses on
enhancing the wear performance of Mg Ze41A alloy by ball
burnishing process without compromising on biocompatibility.
The novelty of this study lies in the improvement of tribological
characteristics of magnesium alloy without altering the material
composition and biocompatibility. Additionally, the surface
texture obtained after ball burnishing can promote cell adhesion
and cell growth for orthopedic implant applications, which will
be presented as separate work. Also, an attempt was made to
understand the influence of ball burnishing parameters on the
wear rate, CoF and interface temperature. The worn surfaces
were examined to estimate the wear mechanism at different
burnishing conditions. Additionally, fuzzy logic approach has
been adopted to estimate the tribological behavior of ball
burnished Mg Ze41A alloy.
2. Methodology
2.1 Material Selection
Magnesium Ze41A alloy has been chosen for burnishing
operation. Based on the literature review, it was evident that
rare earth-based magnesium alloys exhibited better mechanical,
Table 1 The alloying elements in Mg Ze41A alloy
Element Iron Manganese Zirconium
Wt.% 0.003 0.02
1172—Volume 31(2) February 2022
wear and corrosion performance followed by zinc-based
magnesium alloys. Therefore, the alloy with combination of
rare earth metals and zinc is chosen for investigation. Although
this alloy has been developed for gear box applications in
aerospace industry, it is now being explored for biomedical
applications as it inherently possesses biodegradability and
biocompatibility nature. The material composition of Mg
Ze41A alloy is shown in Table 1.
2.2 Workpiece Design
The workpiece is designed in such a way that a total of 25
burnishing experiments with burnishing regions of 8 9 8 mm
can be performed. A gap of 5 mm has been maintained on
either sides of each burnishing region to distinguish and avoid
overlap of burnishing regions. To meet the above requirements,
a slab with length 70 mm, width 70 mm and thickness 25 mm
is cut from casted magnesium Ze41A alloy. After the burnish-
ing operation, all the 25 burnishing regions are removed from
the workpiece using wire EDM. The workpiece design and the
samples after wire EDM cut are shown in Fig. 2(a), (b), and (c).
The wear tests are performed on each burnished sample to
understand the wear-burnishing behavior of Mg Ze41A alloy.
2.3 Tool Design
The innovative ball burnishing tool depicted in Fig. 3
consists of two steel parts: (a) shank and (b) mandrel. The
shank is designed to fix inside the milling tool holder. The
mandrel is designed to hold 8-mm burnishing ball made of
tungsten carbide. The 8-mm ball has been further supported by
three 4-mm balls internally. The supporting balls help the
burnishing ball during the contact with work piece. The desired
burnishing force can be applied by compressing the helical
spring elastically. With the help of spring stiffness and
compression, the burnishing force can be calibrated. Earlier
research on various materials reveals that the optimum
burnishing force may vary from 10 to 500 N based on the
tool design, ball diameter, spring stiffness and workpiece
material. The maximum permissible burnishing force designed
is 250 N as magnesium is relatively soft material. The
preliminary investigation on Mg Ze41A alloy showcased that
high burnishing force imparts shear failure on the surface and
subsurface layers leading to flaking and distortion of surfaces.
2.4 Ball Burnishing Process Design
The ball burnishing process has been performed on ÔCNC
Fanuc series oi Mate-MC,Õ which is having an accuracy and
precision of 1 lm. As the ball burnishing process operates in
microlevel, it demands for highly accurate and precision CNC
machines. The ball burnishing process parameters chosen are
burnishing force, burnishing speed, burnishing feed, and
number of passes and their respective levels are represented
in Table 2. The range of each parameter has been evaluated
from preliminary results (Ref 42). Each parameter is varied in
Cerium Zinc Magnesium
0.54 0.61 4.2 Rest
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Fig. 2 (a) Workpiece with burnished regions, (b) samples after wire EDM cut, (c) each sample design

Fig. 3 Design of ball burnishing tool

Table 2 Burnishing parameters and their respective levels

Parameter Code Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Burnishing force, N BP1 30 40 50 60 70

Burnishing speed, RPM BP2 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
Burnishing feed, mm/min BP3 100 125 150 175 200
Number of passes BP4 1 2 3 4 5

five levels to understand the nonlinear effects of ball burnishing inclusions on the surface. In order to perform wear experiments
parameters appropriately. The work piece surfaces are cleaned twice at each burnishing condition, two sets of burnished
with alcohol before and after burnishing to remove foreign samples have been prepared for each burnishing condition.

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 31(2) February 2022—1173

2.5 Wear Measurement after the test have been noted to estimate the wear rate. Two sets
of results have been noted at each burnishing condition, and the
The tribological behavior of a material is quite dependent on
deviation of the results is found to be less than 2.33% for any
surface integrity, apart from material properties. Therefore,
test condition. The average of two readings has been used for
surface integrity plays a significant role in altering the wear
analysis. The test conditions used are normal load 60 N, sliding
resistance of a material. The dry sliding experiments are
velocity 1 m/s and sliding distance 1500 m. At this condition,
conducted on all the burnished samples after wire EDM cut.
the wear mechanism maps of Mg Ze41A alloy for machined
The tests are conducted using pin on disk tribometer supplied
surface show clear transition from delamination to plastic
by DUCOM as per the ASTM G 99 standard, as depicted in
deformation. Hence, the above test condition is used for
Fig. 4. The specimens are fixed in such a way that the burnished
evaluating the wear performance of ball burnished Mg Ze41A
face slides over the disc. The weights of the sample before and
alloy.

Fig. 4 Schematic of dry sliding wear equipment

Table 3 Experimental results of wear rate, CoF and temperature

S. Wear rate 3 (10)23, mm3/ S/N ratio of wear S/N ratio of Temp, S/N ratio of
no. BP1 BP2 BP3 BP4 m rate CoF CoF °C Temp

1 30 1000 100 1 5.510  14.823 0.363 8.807 58  35.229

2 30 1100 125 2 4.565  13.189 0.315 10.039 54  34.616
3 30 1200 150 3 3.845  11.699 0.271 11.334 50  34.019
4 30 1300 175 4 3.861  11.733 0.233 12.645 47  33.463
5 30 1400 200 5 5.043  14.053 0.365 8.757 58  35.255
6 40 1000 125 3 4.605  13.265 0.277 11.166 51  34.094
7 40 1100 150 4 3.891  11.801 0.262 11.634 49  33.888
8 40 1200 175 5 4.211  12.488 0.322 9.843 54  34.711
9 40 1300 200 1 4.253  12.573 0.348 9.176 57  35.041
10 40 1400 100 2 5.133  14.208 0.300 10.446 53  34.424
11 50 1000 150 5 4.118  12.294 0.253 11.951 49  33.752
12 50 1100 175 1 3.565  11.041 0.238 12.465 48  33.537
13 50 1200 200 2 3.348  10.495 0.197 14.124 44  32.893
14 50 1300 100 3 3.633  11.206 0.116 18.681 38  31.490
15 50 1400 125 4 3.445  10.745 0.243 12.288 48  33.610
16 60 1000 175 2 4.926  13.850 0.290 10.746 52  34.284
17 60 1100 200 3 4.303  12.676 0.330 9.624 55  34.818
18 60 1200 100 4 4.156  12.373 0.186 14.610 43  32.719
19 60 1300 125 5 4.629  13.310 0.238 12.468 48  33.535
20 60 1400 150 1 4.664  13.375 0.318 9.957 54  34.656
21 70 1000 200 4 4.802  13.629 0.433 7.266 64  36.057
22 70 1100 100 5 5.636  15.019 0.382 8.363 54  34.648
23 70 1200 125 1 4.455  12.977 0.362 8.833 58  35.216
24 70 1300 150 2 4.547  13.155 0.314 10.061 55  34.807
25 70 1400 175 3 4.709  13.458 0.381 8.393 59  35.445

1174—Volume 31(2) February 2022 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Table 4 ANOM of wear rate action leads to profound work hardening of the earlier
exaggerated layers of the burnished surface, resulting in flaking
Level Force Speed Feed Passes of the surface. As a result, surface roughness increases and
surface hardness decreases beyond burnishing force of 50 N,
1  13.10  13.57  13.53  12.96
and subsequently, wear rate increases. This reveals that
2  12.87  12.75  12.70  12.98
3  11.16  12.01  12.46  12.46
different wear mechanisms can be observed for different ball
4  13.12  12.40  12.51  12.06 burnishing conditions. Similar findings were observed during
5  13.65  13.17  12.69  13.43 wear performance analysis of ball burnished titanium Ti-6Al-
Delta 2.49 1.57 1.06 1.38 4V alloy (Ref 7). The lowest wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy has
Rank 1 2 4 3 been noticed at burnishing force of 50 N, probably due to the
lower surface roughness, higher microhardness and predomi-
nant surface hardening.
The wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy decreases when the
burnishing speed increases from 1000 to 1200 RPM and
3. Results and Discussion increases beyond 1200 RPM. Burnishing speed helps the
plastically deformed asperities to move laterally due to the
3.1 Experimental Results centrifugal action of the rotating ball. Therefore, the lateral
In the present investigations, the experiments are performed material flow can be controlled by varying the burnishing
as per Taguchi L25 orthogonal array and the corresponding speed. When the burnishing speed increases up to 1200 RPM
tribological results are presented in Table 3. The objective of gradually, the lateral material flow increases due to centrifugal
the present work is to minimize the wear rate, coefficient of action. As a result, the abnormalities of the burnished surface
friction and temperature of ball burnishing samples. Hence, will be settled down and hence surface roughness decreases. On
’smaller the better type’ category for the wear rate (WR), the other hand, the centrifugal force is directly proportional to
coefficient of friction (CoF) and temperature (temp) has been the square of angular velocity. Therefore, at higher burnishing
selected. The corresponding S/N ratio associated for each trial speeds, centrifugal action of the rotating ball will be very high,
of the L25 orthogonal array is represented as: which in turn causes severe lateral material flow than required,
  resulting in chattering effect. Due to the presence of chatter,
g1 ¼ 10 log10 WR2 ðEq 1Þ surface roughness of Mg Ze41A alloy increases at higher
burnishing speeds beyond 1200 RPM. With increase in bur-
  nishing speed, the microhardness decreases. This is due to less
g2 ¼ 10 log10 CoF2 ðEq 2Þ
time of penetration, high lateral material flow, instability of
  burnishing tool and increase in elastic recovery of the work-
g3 ¼ 10 log10 Temp2 ðEq 3Þ hardened surface because of the rise in temperature of the
workpiece and the burnishing ball. From the discussion, it can
The respective S/N ratios of L25 orthogonal array are
be concluded that the wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy increases
determined using Eqs 1 to 3 and are presented in Table 4.
beyond burnishing speed of 1200 RPM due to poor surface
integrity such as higher surface roughness, lower microhard-
3.2 Investigation on Wear Rate
ness and lower surface hardening. Although surface hardness
The influence of burnishing process parameters on wear rate decreases up to burnishing speed of 1200 RPM, the increase in
has been investigated by generating the main effects plot. It can surface finish is found to be predominant. Therefore, the wear
be observed that the wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy reduced rate of Mg Ze41A alloy decreases. This can be complimented
significantly due to ball burnishing process. The main plot with the fact that the improvement in surface finish is much
reveals that the wear rate decreases considerably up to more than that of surface hardness during ball burnishing
burnishing force of 50 N and increases beyond 50 N. This process (Ref 10).
can be due to decrease in surface roughness and increase in The wear rate variation of Mg Ze41A alloy with respect to
microhardness up to burnishing force of 50 N. At the burnishing feed (Fig. 5) revealed that, at medium burnishing
beginning, the burnishing ball penetrates very little on to the feeds, the wear rate is quite low. The wear rate decreases with
workpiece surface, resulting in incomplete deformation of the increase in burnishing feed up to 150 mm/min and increases
asperities and thus causing lower amount of work hardening. afterward. Burnishing force is responsible for deforming the
As a result, surface roughness can be higher and surface asperities plastically upon application of pressure. However, the
hardness can be lower at low burnishing forces. Therefore, as plastic material in longitudinal direction can be controlled by
the surface integrity of Mg Ze41A alloy is poor at lower burnishing feed. At lower burnishing feeds, the surface
burnishing forces, the wear rate is found to be higher. As the roughness is high due to high number of ball rotations at a
burnishing force increases, the ball penetration becomes large particular place per minute, high longitudinal material flow,
and the plastic deformation region widens, resulting in accumulation of material around the periphery of the rotating
enhanced work hardening and smoothening of asperities. As ball and large feed marks. As a result, wear rate can be higher at
a result, surface roughness decreases and surface hardness lower burnishing feeds, although surface hardness was higher at
increases up to burnishing force of 50 N, and subsequently, low burnishing feed. Our primary investigations on ball
wear rate decreases. Certainly, the wear rate of smoother and burnishing of Mg Ze41A alloy reveal that the improvement
harder surface will be lower than that of rough and soft surface in surface finish is more predominant than that of surface
of the same material. However, when the burnishing ball hardness. However, at medium burnishing feeds, the longitu-
penetration is quite large, the repetitive plastic deformation dinal material flow has been quite enough to display the
plastically deformed material from crest to trough, and also, the

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 31(2) February 2022—1175

Fig. 5 Main effects plot of wear rate
successive distance between traces is sufficient for merging the
interfaces. These led to decrease in surface roughness, and
therefore, wear rate decreases. At higher burnishing feeds, the
wear rate increases due to drastic increment in surface
roughness because of insufficient longitudinal material flow
to smooth out all the surface asperities, as depicted in ball
burnishing of CoCrMo alloy (Ref 3). As indicated in Fig. 5,
medium burnishing feeds can be advantageous for minimizing
the wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy because the longitudinal metal
flow is regular during ball burnishing process.
As exhibited in Fig. 5, the wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy
decreases with the passes and reaches a lowest value at 4.
During single pass, the amount of plastic deformation is lower,
resulting in lower cold work, consequently lower microhard-
ness. In a single pass, the surface asperities at the top most layer
will be deformed, but the asperities present beneath the top
most layer will not be deformed. Also, the asperities deformed
plastically during first pass will regain its shape partially
because of elastic behavior in plastic zone. Hence, better
surface finish will not be obtained at single pass. Therefore,
multiple passes are recommended for achieving the lowest wear
rate. During multiple passes, the amount of plastic deformation
increases, resulting in higher cold work, consequently higher
microhardness. Also, the microhardness during multiple passes
might increase due to structural homogeneity and condensed
grain structure. Also, multiple passes have been recommended
for the best surface finish during burnishing operation to
deform the asperities beneath the top most surface and to
eliminate the elastic recovery of asperities. However, the
surface roughness of Mg Ze41A alloy considerably increases
after three passes because of severe plastic deformation, over
hardening, etc., and consequently flaking of the surface layers
has been observed. Therefore, the best wear rate is obtained at
four passes during burnishing of Mg Ze41A alloy. Similar
results were obtained during wear analysis of ball burnished
titanium Ti-6Al-4V alloy (Ref 7) and aluminum 6061 alloy (Ref
43).
The interaction effects between the ball burnishing param-
eters affecting the wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy are presented in
Fig. 6. Generally, straight and parallel lines indicate no
1176—Volume 31(2) February 2022
evidence of interaction and crossed lines indicate interactions
among the parameters in an interaction plot. The interaction
plot (Fig. 6) depicts high interactions between ball burnishing
parameters as the lines are crossed. The wear rate of ball
burnished surface depends on the surface characteristics such as
roughness and hardness achieved during burnishing process. As
the ball burnishing parameters change, the surface integrity
changes, and hence, wear rate changes. Hence, the ball
burnishing parameters have to be rightly chosen for achieving
minimum wear rate of Mg Ze41A alloy. For instance, at
constant burnishing force of 30 N, the wear rate changes with
the change in burnishing speed from 1000 to 1400 RPM and
vice versa. The changes are quite significant as the curves are
highly nonlinear. Similarly, the same applies to interaction of
any of the two burnishing parameters considered. Similar
interactions were observed during ball burnishing of magne-
sium AZ91D alloy (Ref 44). With regard to S/N ratio, the
analysis of means (ANOM) is performed to evaluate the
optimal levels of ball burnishing process parameters. The
results of ANOM for wear rate are represented in Table 4. The
levels with the highest S/N ratio are considered as the best
combination level. The best process parameters is found to be
burnishing force of 50 N, burnishing speed of 1200 RPM,
burnishing feed of 150 mm/min and four passes for minimum
wear rate.
3.3 Investigation on CoF
The effect of burnishing process parameters on CoF can be
explained by using main effects plot (Fig. 7). From the plots, it
is revealed that the CoF of Mg Ze41A alloy can be reduced by
ball burnishing process. The CoF decreases with increase in
burnishing force up to 50 N and increases later on. This was
due to decrease in surface roughness up to burnishing force of
50 N. At low burnishing force, the low penetration of
burnishing ball caused incomplete deformation of asperities
resulting in lower surface finish. As a result, the interlocking of
surfaces is found to be predominant, leading to high plowing
action. Hence, the CoF is higher at low burnishing force, as
depicted in wear analysis of ball burnished low-density high
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Fig. 6 Interaction effects plot of wear rate
Fig. 7 Main effects plot of CoF
molecular mass polyethylene (LDPE) (Ref 11). As the bur-
nishing force increases, the penetration of burnishing ball
increases, resulting in smoothening of asperities. As a result,
surface roughness decreases up to burnishing force of 50 N,
and subsequently, CoF decreases due to less interlocking effect
and low plowing action. However, when the burnishing ball
penetrates much deeper, the repetitive plastic deformation
causes flaking of the surface. As a result, surface roughness
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
increases beyond burnishing force of 50 N, and subsequently,
interlocking effect and plowing action prevail, and hence, CoF
increases. The lowest CoF of Mg Ze41A alloy observed at
burnishing force of 50 N can be certainly due to lower surface
roughness.
The CoF of Mg Ze41A alloy decreases with burnishing
speed up to 1300 RPM and increases afterward. Burnishing
speed is responsible for lateral material flow due to the
Volume 31(2) February 2022—1177
centrifugal action of the rotating ball. The decrease in CoF up
to burnishing speed of 1300 RPM is due to decrease in surface
roughness and hardness. As the burnishing speed increases, the
lateral material flow increases due to centrifugal action. As a
result, the abnormalities of the burnished surface have been
settled down and surface roughness reduces. Also, the micro-
hardness decreases with increase in burnishing speed, which
results in soft surface (Ref 45). Therefore, the interlocking
effect will not sustain for longer periods due to soft surface. As
a result, the CoF decreases up to 1300 RPM. However, at
1400 RPM, the surface roughness is found to be higher,
resulting in higher CoF. Although the surface was soft, the
abnormal asperities on the surface will hold the contour surface
firmly, which leads to higher COF. Additionally, the wear
debris formed obtained due to soft surface will cause additional
interlocking effect.
The CoF variation of Mg Ze41A alloy with respect to
burnishing feed (Fig. 7) revealed that, at lowest burnishing
feed, the CoF can be low. The CoF increases with increase in
burnishing feed due to reduction in surface hardness. At lower
burnishing feeds, the severe plastic deformation imparts higher
microhardness on the burnished surface. In addition, the
number of ball deformations over the same spot at lower
burnishing feed is greater than that of higher burnishing feed.
Therefore, the harder surface at initial burnishing feed will
reduce the plowing action and perhaps the interlocking effect.
Hence, the CoF is lower at initial burnishing feed. With
increase in burnishing feed, burnishing ball deformation over
the same spot decreases resulting in lower strain hardening and
surface hardness. The softer surface will certainly permit
plowing action and thereby interlocking effect. As a result, the
Fig. 8 Interaction effects plot of CoF
1178—Volume 31(2) February 2022
CoF of Mg Ze41A alloy increases at higher burnishing feeds.
These results can be complimented by the inferences obtained
during wear analysis of Al 6061 alloy (Ref 16).
As exhibited in Fig. 7, the CoF decreased with passes and
reached the lowest value at 4. The decrease in CoF can be due
to decrease in surface roughness. The surface asperities at the
top most layer will be deformed in a single pass while the
asperities beneath the top most layer will also be deformed in a
multiple pass. Therefore, surface roughness decreases, and
subsequently, CoF decreases due to less interlocking effect and
plowing action. However, the CoF increases considerably after
four number of passes. This is due to drastic increase in surface
roughness after four passes. The increase in surface roughness
after four passes can be fairly understandable because of flaking
of the surface layers due to severe plastic deformation, over
hardening, etc. The best CoF is obtained at four passes during
burnishing of magnesium Ze41A alloy.
The interaction effects between the ball burnishing param-
eters affecting the CoF of Mg Ze41A alloy are presented in
Fig. 8. Generally, crossed lines indicate interactions among the
parameters and straight lines indicate no evidence of interaction
in an interaction plot. The interaction plot of CoF (Fig. 8)
reveals high interactions between ball burnishing parameters as
the lines are highly crossed. The CoF of ball burnished surface
depends on the interlocking effect and plowing action. The
interlocking effect can be influenced by surface roughness,
while the plowing action is influenced by surface hardness
achieved during ball burnishing process of Mg Ze41A alloy. As
the ball burnishing parameters changes, the interlocking effect
and plowing action change, and hence, CoF changes. Hence,
the ball burnishing parameters have to be rightly chosen for
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
achieving minimum CoF of Mg Ze41A alloy. For instance, at hence, the resistance against the rubbing action decreases.
constant burnishing force of 30 N, the CoF changes with the Therefore, temperature induced at surface decreases (Ref 10).
change in burnishing speed from 1000 to 1400 RPM and vice The CoF increases beyond burnishing force of 50 N due to
versa. The changes are quite significant as the curves are highly repeated plastic deformation and flaking of surface during ball
nonlinear. Similarly, the same applies to interaction of any of burnishing of Mg Ze41A alloy. Therefore, temperature rises
the two burnishing parameters considered during ball burnish- significantly beyond burnishing force of 50 N. The lowest
ing of magnesium Ze41A alloy. With regard to S/N ratio, the temperature has been observed at burnishing force of 50 N and
analysis of means (ANOM) has been performed to evaluate the is certainly due to lower CoF. The temperature at the interface
optimal levels of ball burnishing process parameters. The of Mg Ze41A alloy decreases with increase in burnishing speed
results of ANOM for wear rate are represented in Table 5. The up to 1300 RPM and increases afterward. The decrease in
levels with the highest S/N ratio have been considered as the temperature up to burnishing speed of 1300 RPM can be due to
best combination level. The best process parameters are found decrease in interlocking mechanism and enriched soft surface.
to be burnishing force of 50 N, burnishing speed of 1300 RPM, Apparently, the CoF decreases up to 1300 RPM, and hence,
burnishing feed of 100 mm/min and three passes for minimum temperature at surface decreases. However, the temperature is
CoF. higher at 1400 RPM due to higher CoF. Although the surface is
soft, the abnormal asperities on the surface will hold the
3.4 Investigation on Temperature contour surface firmly, leading to higher COF. In addition to
that, the wear debris formed obtained due to soft surface will
To better understand the temperature measured, main effects
cause additional interlocking effect.
plots of the results are constructed (Fig. 9). The plots reveal that
The temperature variation of Mg Ze41A alloy with respect
the temperature rise during dry sliding of Mg Ze41A alloy can
to burnishing feed (Fig. 9) revealed that the temperature is
be reduced significantly by ball burnishing process. The rise in
lower at low burnishing feeds. The harder surface at initial
temperature at the interface depends on CoF. As the CoF
burnishing feed will reduce the plowing action and perhaps the
increases, the temperature increases. The CoF decreases with
interlocking effect. Hence, the temperature is found to be lower
increase in burnishing force up to 50 N and increases later on.
at initial burnishing feed due to low CoF. Consequently, the
As the CoF decreases, the interlocking affects decrease, and
temperature increases with increase in burnishing feed due to
increase in CoF. The softer surface at high burnishing feed will
Table 5 ANOM of CoF certainly permit plowing action and thereby results in formation
of wear debris at macro- and microsizes. As a result, the CoF of
Level Force Speed Feed Passes
Mg Ze41A alloy increases, and hence, temperature increases at
1 10.316 9.987 12.181 9.847 higher burnishing feeds. As exhibited in Fig. 9, the temperature
2 10.453 10.425 10.959 11.083 decreased with multiple passes and reaches a minimum value at
3 13.902 11.749 10.988 11.840 four passes. The surface will not be smooth during single pass
4 11.481 12.606 10.818 11.689 since the asperities beneath the top most layer will not be
5 8.583 9.968 9.789 10.276 deformed. Therefore, interlocking effect and plowing action
Delta 5.318 2.638 2.392 1.992 will be severe, resulting in high CoF and thereby high
Rank 1 2 3 4 temperature. By multiple passes, the surface becomes smooth.
As the surface becomes smooth, interlocking effect and
plowing action will not prevail (Ref 8). Therefore, temperature
decreases due to decrease in CoF. However, the temperature

Fig. 9 Main effects plot of temperature

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 31(2) February 2022—1179

Fig. 10 Interaction effects plot of temperature

increases considerably after four number of passes due to the

Table 6 ANOM of temperature
flaking effect of ball burnishing process. The study revealed
that the lowest temperature has been obtained at four passes Level Force Speed Feed Passes
during burnishing of Mg Ze41A alloy.
The interaction effects between the ball burnishing param- 1  34.52  34.68  33.70  34.74
eters affecting the temperature of Mg Ze41A alloy are 2  34.43  34.30  34.21  34.20
presented in Fig. 10. Generally, crossed lines indicate interac- 3  33.06  33.91  34.22  33.91
tion effects among the parameters and straight lines indicate no 4  34.00  33.67  34.29  33.95
evidence of interaction. The interaction plot of temperature 5  35.23  34.68  34.81  34.38
(Fig. 10) reveals high interactions between ball burnishing Delta 2.18 1.02 1.11 0.79
Rank 1 3 2 4
parameters as the lines were highly crossed. The temperature of
ball burnished surface depends on the interlocking effect and
plowing action. As the ball burnishing parameters changes, the
interlocking effect and plowing action change and hence,
temperature changes. Hence, the ball burnishing parameters burnishing feed of 100 mm/min and three passes for minimum
have to be rightly chosen for achieving minimum interface temperature.
temperature. For instance, at constant burnishing feed of
100 mm/min, the temperature changes with the change in
burnishing force from 30 to 70 N and vice versa. The changes
are found to be quite significant as the curves exhibit nonlinear
4. Confirmation of Results
nature. Similarly, the same applies to interaction of any of the
two burnishing parameters considered during ball burnishing of The optimum burnishing conditions can be obtained based
magnesium Ze41A alloy. With regard to S/N ratio, the analysis on the ANOM results of wear rate, CoF and interfacial
of means (ANOM) has been performed to evaluate the optimal temperature. The optimum condition for wear rate, unlike CoF
levels of ball burnishing process parameters. The results of and interfacial temperature is not listed in L25 orthogonal array.
ANOM for temperature are represented in Table 6. The levels Hence, the optimum value of wear rate has been predicted
with the highest S/N ratio can be considered as the best using S/N ratios. To confirm the proposed responses obtained
combination level. The best process parameters is found to be from the best combination of the ball burnishing parameters,
burnishing force of 50 N, burnishing speed of 1300 RPM, the S/N ratio (gopt) of wear rate is predicted by:

1180—Volume 31(2) February 2022 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Table 7 Confirmation of results can be lower for sample no. 13. This implies that ball
burnishing at a force of 50 N might result in better wear
Parameter Wear rate CoF Temperature resistance. Oxidative wear progresses through the detachment
of oxide fragments. Oxides are fragmented to debris by the
Optimum condition 3, 3, 3, 4 3, 4, 1, 3 3, 4, 1, 3
propagation of cracks as depicted in Fig. 11(b). As the
Burnishing force, N 50 50 50
Burnishing speed, RPM 1200 1300 1300
oxidative wear progresses, platelike structures or debris can be
Burnishing feed, mm/min 150 100 100 formed because of the detachment of subsurface layers, as
No of passes 4 3 3 depicted in Fig. 11(c) and (d), resulting in delamination wear.
S/N ratio (gopt)  9.35 18.681  31.86 However, the intensity of delamination varies based on the ball
Observed 2.934 0.116 38 burnishing process capabilities. Figure 11(e) illustrates multiple
Actual 2.997 0.116 38 wear mechanisms operating simultaneously. This could be due
Error 2.10 0 0 to the transition of wear mechanism from delamination to
Initial condition 6.145 0.423 63 plastic deformation. Figure 11(f) illustrates severely plastic
% Improvement 51.22 72.58 39.68 deformed layers, which are extruded along the sliding direction.
However, the indefinite wear mechanisms at different burnish-
ing conditions should be explored further to illustrate the true
potential of ball burnishing process as a surface modification
technique for wear enhancement.
X
p
  
gopt ¼ m þ mi;j max
m ðEq 4Þ
j¼1
6. Fuzzy Interface System (FIS)
where (mi,j)max is the S/N ratio of the best combination level I of
burnishing parameter j and p is number of main design
burnishing parameters. Soft computing methods provide artificial intelligence to the
The optimum burnishing condition for wear rate has been machines, which can be executed as algorithms to differentiate
found to be burnishing force of 50 N, burnishing speed of patterns or information (Ref 46). Fuzzy interface system is one
1200 RPM, burnishing feed of 150 mm/min and four passes. of the popular techniques in artificial intelligence. Fuzzy
The optimum burnishing condition for CoF and temperature interface system is dependent on heuristic methods, which
has been found to be burnishing force of 50 N, burnishing translates previous strategies, intuitions and experiences into
speed of 1300 RPM, burnishing feed of 100 mm/min and three linguistic variables (Ref 46). Fuzzy interface system comprised
passes, as represented in Table 7. The S/N ratio of wear rate at of four stages as shown in Fig. 12. The fuzzification interface
optimum burnishing condition can be evaluated by Eq 4. The performs the necessary changes on the input parameters to
observed values of wear rate are calculated using Eq 1. The obtain fuzzified datasets. Now, the fuzzy sets are presented by
Taguchi method predicted the optimum results of wear rate membership functions. The membership function and their
with an error of 2.25%. As the optimum burnishing condition initial values are chosen based on the experimental conditions
for CoF and temperature is listed of L25 orthogonal array, the and the system knowledge. The knowledge base unit comprises
observed value and actual value will be same, and hence, the database and rule base. The database delivers the necessary
error will be zero. descriptions that are required for manipulating fuzzy data and
defining linguistic control rules. The rule base embodies the
goals and control policy of the expert system by a set of
linguistic control rules. The decision-making unit interacts with
5. Worn Surface Morphology the knowledge base to identify the output response of various
input parameters represented by the membership functions. The
The worn surfaces have been inspected to comprehend the rule base consists of multiple fuzzy rules to establish the
wear behavior and mechanism of ball burnished magnesium relationship between input parameters and output responses.
Ze41A alloy. The different experimental wear rate values at Generally, these rules can be formulated by ÔIf-thenÕ conditional
different burnishing conditions, as depicted in Table 4, are statements. The decision-making unit utilizes the rule base to
certainly due to prevailing wear mechanisms. As a result, decide the fuzzy values of the fuzzification unit. The fuzzified
indefinite wear rates have been observed at different burnishing data have been converted to the real-world data by a
conditions. Fig. 11(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) represents the defuzzification interface. It converts the output responses into
worn surfaces of Mg Ze41A alloy obtained at different a corresponding universe of discourse by yielding a non-fuzzy
burnishing conditions. Figure 11(a) is the surface morphology value from inferred fuzzified value.
of sample no. 13 of Table 4, which depicts oxidative wear.
Similarly, Fig. 11(b) depicts the cracks in oxides of oxidative 6.1 FIS Generation
wear. Figure 11(c) represents the surface morphology of sample Step I Defining linguistic variables
no. 06, which depicts mild delamination. Similarly, Fig. 11(d), Linguistic variables are the set of input or output variables,
(e), and (f) represents the worn surface morphology of sample whose values can be words or sentences, instead of numerical
no. 17, 22 & 01, depicting delamination and plastic deforma- values. Each burnishing parameter has been fuzzified into five
tion. Oxidative wear can be a significant wear mechanism as linguistic variables as: Very small (VS), Small (S), Medium
magnesium alloys oxidizes strongly. The frictional heating (M), Large (L) and Very Large (VL), and the corresponding
caused during dry sliding also induces oxidative wear on the levels are depicted in Table 8. Similarly, each performance
surface of burnished magnesium alloy. Oxidative wear is the characteristic such as wear rate, coefficient of friction (CoF)
starting wear mechanism of Mg alloys, and hence, the wear rate

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 31(2) February 2022—1181

Fig. 11 Worn surface morphology (a) oxidation, (b) cracks in oxides, (c) mild delamination, (d) severe delamination, (e) delamination and
plastic deformation, (f) severe plastic deformation

and interfacial temperature has been fuzzified into seven 8

ðxlÞ
linguistic variables as: Poor (P), Very Bad (VB), Bad (B), Fair >
< ðmlÞ ; l  x < m
(F), Good (G), Very Good (VG) and Excellent (E), and the lA ðxÞ ¼ ðuxÞ ; m < x  u ðEq 5Þ
corresponding levels are depicted in Table 9 respectively. The > ðumÞ
:
0; otherwise
fuzzy modeling has been performed in Matlab-R2016a.
Step II Defining membership functions Step III Defining fuzzy rules
Membership function (MF) is defined as a curvature, which A set of 25 rules have been constructed based on the actual
maps all the input points in the desired space. The membership experimental wear rate, CoF and interfacial temperature values.
grade exists in between {0, 1}. The membership functions can The fuzzy rule base consists of a group of ÔIf-thenÕ statements
be orderly created by numerous functions such as Gaussian with four input parameters and three performance characteris-
distribution, sigmoid curve, cubic polynomial, quadratic and tics. For example,
linear. The event and type of membership functions should be Rule 1 If force is very small, speed is very small, feed is very
conveniently chosen for fuzzification. The triangular MF found small and number of passes is very small, then the wear rate is
to exhibit the least error in many engineering problems. The poor, CoF is bad and the interfacial temperature is bad.
triangular MF is simple to construct and can be created by .
straight lines. The triangular MF represents the form of triangle .
by connecting three points. A triangular membership function, Rule 6 If force is small, speed is very small, feed is small
lA(x), is represented in Fig. 13 and defined in Eq 5. and number of passes is medium, then the wear rate is bad, CoF
is fair and the interfacial temperature is fair.
.

1182—Volume 31(2) February 2022 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Fig. 12 Fuzzy interface system

Table 8 Linguistic terms of ball burnishing parameters

Levels Force, N Speed, RPM Feed, mm/min Passes

Very Small VS 30 1000 100 1

Small S 40 1100 125 2
Medium M 50 1200 150 3
Large L 60 1300 175 4
Very Large VL 70 1400 200 5

Table 9 Linguistic terms of performance characteristics

Levels Wear rate 3 (10)23, mm3/m CoF Temp, °C

Excellent E 2.5 0.10 36

Very Good VG 3.0 0.16 41
Good G 3.5 0.22 46
Fair F 4.0 0.28 51
Bad B 4.5 0.34 56
Very Bad VB 5.0 0.40 61
Poor P 5.5 0.46 66

. Defuzzification is a process of conversion of fuzzified

Rule 12 If force is medium, speed is small, feed is large and datasets into precise datasets, while the fuzzification is a
number of passes is very small, then the wear rate is good, CoF process of conversion of precise datasets into fuzzified datasets.
is good and the interfacial temperature is fair. The different methods adopted for defuzzification are centroid
. method, mean of max method, weight average method, center
. of largest area method and maximum method. The speed and
Rule 18 If force is large, speed is medium, feed is very small accuracy of the FIS highly depend on the defuzzification
and number of passes is large, then the wear rate is fair, CoF is method adopted. In the present FIS, centroid of area method has
very good and the interfacial temperature is very good. been deployed due to its high capability and wide acceptance in
. providing more accurate results. Centroid method used in
Rule 24 If force is very lage, speed is large, feed is medium defuzzification is given by Eq 6.
and number of passes is small, then the wear rate is bad, CoF is Pn
bad and the interfacial temperature is bad i¼1 xi  lðxi Þ
x ¼ P n ðEq 6Þ
Step IV Defuzzification i¼1 lðxi Þ

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 31(2) February 2022—1183

where x*is the defuzzified value, l(x ) is the firing level of the ultimate strength in friction stir welding (Ref 47) and dynamic
i
ith rule, x is the centroid of the area and n is the total number of performance in hydrodynamic journal bearing (Ref 48).
i
rules fired.

6.2 FIS Results 7. Conclusion

The validation check of FIS has been performed at three
different burnishing conditions, as shown in Table 10. The
lower the error value, the higher the reliability of generated
fuzzy interface system. The inputs of ball burnishing process
are provided as crisp values, and the performance characteris-
tics were predicted as crisp values after defuzzification. Here, a
set of 25 rules are used for obtaining the performance
characteristics. The obtained performance characteristics have
been found to be in good accordance with the experimental
results. The reliability of generated FIS system can be
witnessed by performing the comparative analysis of experi-
mental value and the FIS generated value. Table 10 presents the
comparison between experimental values and FIS generated
values of wear rate, CoF and interfacial temperature. The
inherent randomness is viable in a ball burnishing process, and
hence error less than 10% can be considered as reasonable. The
generated FIS predicted the results with an error of 6.03% for
wear rate, 3.47% for CoF and 5.25% for interfacial temperature.
Therefore, the generated FIS is highly capable and reliable in
predicting the tribological performance of ball burnished Mg
alloy as the average absolute error was 4.92%. The similar
average absolute error was obtained during fuzzy modeling of
Fig. 13 Triangular membership function
Ball burnishing is a recent technological advancement in
biomaterials. The ball burnishing process found to exhibit
superior surface characteristics and functional performance.
The primary goal of this study is to understand the role of
critical burnishing parameters such as burnishing force, speed,
feed and passes on the tribological behavior of biodegradable
magnesium Ze41A alloy. The following conclusions can be
summarized:
• The lowest wear rate of 2.997 9 (10)3 mm3/m with an
improvement of 51.22% has been obtained for Mg Ze41A
burnished sample at the burnishing force of 50 N, bur-
nishing speed of 1200 RPM, burnishing feed of 150 mm/
min and four number of passes.
• Similarly, the lowest CoF and interface temperature of
0.116 and 38 C have been obtained with an improvement
of 72.58 and 39.68% respectively at the burnishing force
of 50 N, burnishing speed of 1300 RPM, burnishing feed
of 100 mm/min and three number of passes.
• The SEM examination of worn out surfaces reveals the
different wear mechanisms such as oxidation, delamina-
tion and plastic deformation at different burnishing condi-
tions.
• The burnished surface at optimum burnishing condition
exhibited the oxidative wear mechanism, while the milled
surface exhibited plastic deformation mechanism under
similar wear conditions.
• The substantial enhancement in wear performance of ball
burnished biodegradable magnesium Ze41A alloy is cer-
tainly due to the improvement in surface integrity charac-
teristics such as surface roughness and microhardness.
• Tribological performance has been estimated by fuzzy
interface system with an error of 6.03% for wear rate,
3.47% for CoF and 5.25% for interfacial temperature.
• The fuzzy interface system can be a reliable and capable
model in evaluating the tribological performance of ball
burnished biodegradable magnesium Ze41A alloy.
• The wear-burnishing maps and wear maps at optimum
burnishing condition will help to explore deeper insights
on the wear behavior of biodegradable magnesium Ze41A
alloy, which can be presented as future work.

Table 10 Confirmatory results of FIS

Predicted %Error
23
Force, Speed, Feed, mm/ Wear rate 3 (10) , Temp, Wear rate 3 (10)23, Temp,
N RPM min Passes mm3/m CoF °C mm3/m CoF °C

50 1200 150 4 3.35 0.175 40 8.53  4.37  07.11

50 1300 150 3 3.5 0.160 45  7.53  4.19 2.27
60 1100 100 5 4.5 0.220 50  2.02 1.85 6.38
Avg. absolute error 6.03 3.47 5.25
Avg. absolute total Error 4.92

1184—Volume 31(2) February 2022 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Funding
No funds, grants or other support was received.
Conflict of interest
The authors have no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests
to disclose.
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45. J.T. Maximov, G.V. Duncheva, A.P. Anchev, N. Ganev, I.M. Amudjev
and V.P. Dunchev, Effect of Slide Burnishing Method on the Surface
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1186—Volume 31(2) February 2022
Parameters on the Ultimate Tensile Strength and Elongation of Pure
Copper Joints, J. Manuf. Process., 2020, 53(February), p 250–259
48. S.K. Gugulothu, A Novel Assessment Study on a Dynamic Analysis of
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