Optimization of Surface Roughness of Brass by Burnishing

Abstract

Abstract—Cylindrical components are important in
several industrial applications. The surface quality plays a
role in part performance. Non-ferrous surfaces are difficultto-finish
due
to
several
issues
encountered
in
grinding
that
is

optimum

for ferrous metals. Burnishing process, as a metal
deformation process, is believed to be more suitable since it
eliminates sticking, wheel dulling and overheating. The
main objective of this work is to optimize the burnishing
process that can be used to finish the surface of machined
parts. To achieve this, burnishing tool was designed and
constructed in such a way that it can be simply mounted or
fixed onto the tool holder of the CNC lathe machine.
Experiments are made according to the response surface
methodology (RSM), in order to improve the reliability of
results and to reduce the size of the experimental plan
without loss of accuracy. In this work, four burnishing
parameters, namely, burnishing speed, feed, depth of
penetration and number of passes were selected in order to
study their effects on the surface roughness. Mathematical
models, which depend basically on the utilized experimental
design, have been developed. Variance of analysis was
conducted to determine the prominent parameters and the
adequacy of the models. The results showed that good
surface roughness can be obtained with minimum cost by
transferring the CNC lathe machine from machine tool to
super-finishing machine using the proposed burnishing tool.
From an initial average roughness of about Ra (4-5 µm), the
specimen could be finished to average roughness of 0.09 µm.