UNIT IV

METAL FINISHING PROCESSES

SURFACE FINISHING PROCESSES

Manufacturing process employed determines surface finish level. Some processes

areinherently capable of producing better surfaces than others. The processes recognized forgood
surface finish are honing, lapping, polishing and surface finishing. Tolerance andrange of surface
roughness produced by different processes are given below.

Different surface finishing processes are described below.

HONING

Honing is a surface finishing operation based on abrasive action performed by aset of bonded
abrasive sticks. It is generally used to finish bores of cylinders of ICengine, hydraulic cylinders, gas
barrels, bearings, etc. It can reduce the level ofsurface roughness below 32 μm. It produces a
characteristics surface pattern ascross hatched which is a fit case to retain lubrication layer to facilitate
motion tomoving parts, their best example is IC engine.
 The honing tool used to finishinternal surface is shown in Figure. The honing tool consists of
a set of bondedabrasive sticks. The number of sticks mounted on a tool depends on
itscircumferential area. Number of sticks may be more than a dozen.

The motion of a honing tool a combination of rotation and reciprocation (linear).The motion
is managed in such a way that a given point on the abrasive stick doesnot trace the same path
repeatedly. The honing speed may be kept up to 10 cmsper sec. Lower speeds are recommended for
better surface finish.

Manufacturingdefects like slight eccentricity a way surface, light tapper, less of circulating
canalso be corrected by honing process.The process of honing is always supported by flow of coolants.
It flashes away thesmall chips and maintains a low and uniform temperature of tool and work.

Honing Machines
Honing machines resembles with vertical drilling machines in theirconstruction.
Reciprocating motion of spindle is obtained by hydraulicmeans. The rotary motion may be by
hydraulic motor or by a gear train. Depending upon the movement of spindle or hones a machine may
bevertical honing machine or horizontal honing machine. Generally honingvertical honing machines
are used. Horizontal honing machines arerecommended for finishing internal of long gun barrels.

LAPPING

Lapping is also one of the abrasive processes used to produce finished (smoothlyaccurate)
surfaces. It gives a very high degree of accuracy and smoothness so it isused in production of optical
lenses, metallic bearing surfaces, measuring gauges,surface plates and other measuring instruments.

All the metal parts that aresubjected to fatigue loading or those surfaces that must be used to
establish a sealwith a mating part are often lapped. The process of lapping uses a
bonded abrasivetool and a fluid suspension having very small sized abrasive particles
vibratingbetween the work piece and the lapping tool. The process of lapping is shown. The fluid with
abrasive particles is referred as lapping compound. Itappears as a chalky paste. Normally the fluid
used in lapping compound is oil orkerosene.

The fluid should have slightly lubricating properties to make the actionof abrasive mild in
nature. Abrasives used in lapping compound are aluminiumoxide and silicon carbide. Their girt size is
kept 300 to 600 μm. It is hypothesizedthat two alternative cutting mechanisms are working in the
process of lapping.

In first mechanism the abrasive particles roll and slide between the lapping tooland work
piece. These particles produce small cuts on both surfaces. Anothermechanism supposed to work in
lapping is that the abrasives become imbedded inthe lap surface to give cutting action like in case of
grinding.

Machine Lapping

Machine lapping is recognized as fast lapping process. Gudgeon pins with25 mm diameter
and 75 mm long can be lapped at the rate of 500 units perhour. Mechanical lapping machines have
vertical construction with thework holder mounted on the lower table which is given oscillatory
motion.

The upper lap is stationery and floating while lower one revolves at 60 rpm.Some special
purpose lapping machines are available for lapping of smallparts such as piston pins ball bearing
races, etc. in machine lapping apressure upto 0.02 N/mm2 for soft material and
0.5 N/mm2 for hard materialis applied.
Lapping Applications
Materials processed by lapping range from steel, cast iron to non-ferrousmetal like copper,
brass and lead. Wooden parts, made of hard wood, canalso be finished using wood laps. Lapping
removes material at a very slowrate. So lapping is generally followed by accurate machining of work
pieces.

Lapping is a costlier process so its applications are justified only when veryLapping
ToolLapping CompoundLense Blank(Work Piece)high grade of surface finishing is required.
Lapped surfaces are wellresistant to corrosion and wear, used in manufacturing of highprecisionparts.

POLISHING AND BUFFING

Polishing and buffering are similar surface finishing operations. Polishing is usedto remove
scratches and burrs from a machined surface. It develops a very smoothsurface by means of abrasive
grains embedded to a polishing wheel rotating athigh rpm.
Rotating speed is equivalent to 2300 meter per minutes. The rotatingwheels are made of
softer materials like canvas, leather or paper. Thus, the wheelsare enough flexible to finish the cavities
and internal of intricate shapes.

POLISHING

Polishing is carried out with the help of above mentioned polishing wheels.Abrasive grains
are bonded by gluing to the outside periphery of the wheel.After the abrasives have been worn down
and used up, the wheel isreplenished with new girts. Depending on the girt size polishing is
dividedinto three categories.

(a) Rough Polishing:Girt size is maintained 20 to 80.

(b) Finish Polishing:Girt size is kept 80 to 120.
(c) Fine Finish :For polishing to give very fine finishing abrasivegirt size is
maintained to above 120. In case of fine finishingprocess oil, tallow or beeswax is
used as lubricating agent.

There is a limitation of polishing process that the parts with irregularshapes, sharp corners,
deep recesses and sharp projections are difficult topolish.

Polishing Tool

Polishing can be done by hand, but for mass production work,specially designed semi-
automatic and automatic polishing machinesare available. Abrasive particles are Al2O3 or diamond.
Carrier ofabrasive particles has already been discussed. Polished surfaces maybe buffed to obtain an
even finer surface. Polishing does not improvedimensionless accuracy as done by lapping.

Different between Lapping and Polishing

 Lapping and polishing differ in the following manner, polishing produce a shiny surface
but lapping does not produce bright shiny surface.
 Lapping removes metal from the surface to be finished, however, polishing removes
negligible amount of metal.
 Lapping involves cutting action but polishing consists of producing a kind of plastic flow of
the surface crystals so that the high spots are made to fill the low spots.
BUFFING

Buffing is similar to polishing in appearance, but its function is different. Buffing is used to
provide attractive surfaces with high luster. Buffing is like a polishing operation in which the work
piece is brought in contact witha revolving cloth buffing wheel that usually has been charged with a
veryfind abrasive as shown in Figure. Buffing status is somewhere inbetween polishing and lapping.
A minor cutting action with microchip isdone in case of buffing.

Buffing wheels are made of discs of liners, cotton, broad cloth and canvas.These are made
more or less firm by the amount of stitching used to fastenthe layers of the cloth together. Buffing
tools are enough flexible to polish up to interior of intricate cavities. The buffing tools arenamed as
BUFFING ROUGES.

There are semi-automatic buffing machines available consisting of a series of individually

drivers buffing wheel which can be adjusted to the desired position so as to buff different positions of
the work piece. The work pieces are held in fixtures on a suitable rotating worktable so as tomove the
buffing wheels.

Application of buffing produces mirror like finish. It is used for finishing ofautomobile parts,
boats, bicycles, sport items, tools, furniture, fixtures,commercial and residential hardware, house
hold utensils and homeappliances, etc.

SUPER FINISHING

Super finishing is an alternative process similar to honing. This also uses

bondedabrasive stick moved with a reciprocating motion and pressed against the surfaceto be finished.
The relative motion between the abrasive stick and the workpiece isvaried so that individual grains do
not retrace the same path.

Cutting fluid is usedin the process for cooling of tool workpiece interface. Coolant also
washes awaythe tiny chips produced in the process. The time needed for super finishing
is verysmall. Workpiece may be super finished to a roughness of the order of 0.075 μmwithin 50
seconds.

Sometimes the process of super finishing can be continuedupto 3 minutes for very fine
quality of finish. Super finishing can be differentiatedfrom honing in the following ways

(a) Super finishing stroke length is comparatively shorter but frequencyis larger. It is upto
1500 stokes/minute.
b) It requires low pressure application as compared to honing process.
(c) During the process fed is given to workpiece, the fed rate in case ofsuper finishing
operation is smaller than honing.
(d) Grit size of abrasive used in case of super finishing is smaller thanthat is used withhones.

Major applications of super finishing are finishing of computer memory drums,sewing machine
parts, automotive cylinders, brake drums, bearing components,pistons piston rods, pins, axles, shafts,
clutch plates, guide pins, etc.

GRINDING

Grinding is generally called as fine machining or finishing operations of removing materials

from surface usually 0.25-0.50 mm in most operations through the use of grinding wheel. Grinding
wheel is highly useful in removing extra unwanted metal and sharpening cuttingtools such as chisels,
drill, taps, and other cutting tools.

It may be used to finish almost allsurface, which has been previously roughly shaped by some
other processes or to remove theextra material which is too hard to be removed by other machining
processes.

The accuracyin fine grinding is in few microns or even less. In grinding, the work is held
pressed againstthe high speed rotating grinding wheel and the metal gets reduced by abrasion.
Grindingwheel is generally made from silicon carbide or aluminium oxide. It is generally made up
ofparticles of hard substance called the abrasive and is embedded in a matrix called the bond.
 These abrasives form the cutting points in a wheel and are termed as grains. The abrasivesare
of generally two types namely natural and artificial. Emery and corundum are two naturalabrasives,
while carborundum and aloxite are artificial abrasives.

POLISHING

Polishing is surfacing finishing process for producing a flat, scratch-free, mirror- likefinish. It
consists of fine grinding, intermediate grinding, rough polishing, and fine polishing.Initially the
surface to be polished is roughly ground to remove deep cut off marks. Then theintermediate grinding
is done with fine emery or silicon carbide (Carborundum) papersdecreasing in grit size in three to four
stages to remove grinding marks.

Emery papers aregraded from fine to coarse. This polishing operation may be performed by
hand or mechanicallyusing the rotating disks. The motion in polishing of work on polishing wheel
should alwaysbe straight and the polishing strokes should cover the whole length of the surface
beingpolished. Finer grade emery disc pr polishing wheel should be used for the fine finish
work.Polishing is commonly performed on utensils.
ELECTROPLATING
Electroplating is a process by which metal ions migrate via a solution from a positive electrode to a
negative one. An electrical current passing through the solution causes objects at the cathode to be
coated by the metal in the solution.

Electroplating Makes Use of an Electrical Current

Many products have electroplated parts; the most popular items are electroplated jewelry. A car has
numerous electroplated parts, including its bumpers, hubcaps, grilles, door handles, and other
decorative trimmings. The body of the car and its various automotive parts are electroplated to prevent
rust, protect it from heat and other potential damage.
The aerospace industry also uses electroplated parts similar to cars, but they use electroplating to
increase the hardness and thickness of the airplane’s body to make it resistant to atmospheric and other
environmental conditions or to use lighter materials and have functional coatings with specific
properties. Electronic devices, including computers and smart phones, also have electroplated parts that
allow for better conductivity of electrical current as well as prevent overheating during charging.
Electroplating Methods
Barrel Plating
The primary function of barrel plating is to provide an economical means to electroplate manufactured
parts that also meet specific finishing requirements. This method is best for high-volume plating with
uniform coverage.
The parts that need to be plated are placed inside a barrel and immersed in the metal plating solution.
The barrel slowly rotates and electrical contact is achieved through the use of danglers or centerbars
located inside the barrel. The mechanical energy of the rotation produces a burnishing action that helps
to clean and descale the parts to a greater degree than rack plating. The tumbling action is also
responsible for the high degree of plating uniformity which can be achieved in the barrel.
Galvanizing Process
Hot-dip galvanizing is the process of immersing iron or steel in a bath of molten zinc to produce a
corrosion resistant, multi-layered coating of zinc-iron alloy and zinc metal. While the steel is immersed
in the zinc, a metallurgical reaction occurs between the iron in the steel and the molten zinc. This
reaction is a diffusion process, so the coating forms perpendicular to all surfaces creating a uniform
thickness throughout the part.

Figure : Model of the Hot-Dip Galvanizing Process

The hot-dip galvanizing process (Figure 1) has been used since 1742, providing long-lasting,
maintenance-free corrosion protection at a reasonable cost for decades. Although hot-dip galvanizing
has been utilized to protect steel for generations, the galvanizing process continues to evolve with new
technologies and creative chemistries. The three main steps in the hot-dip galvanizing process are
surface preparation, galvanizing, and post-treatment, each of which will be discussed in detail. The
process is inherently simple, which is a distinct advantage over other corrosion protection methods.