(Guest column contributed by Dr. Michael Massarsky)
Turbo-Abrasive Machining (also referred to as Turbo-Finish) is a mechanical deburring and finishing method originally developed to automate edge finishing procedures on complex rotationally oriented and symmetrical aerospace engine components. Since its inception, this method of utilizing fluidized abrasive materials has facilitated significant reductions in the amount of manual intervention required to deburr large components. Additionally, the process has also proved to be useful in edge and surface finishing a wide variety of other non-rotational components by incorporating these components into fixturing systems. The advantages of this method go beyond the simple removal of burrs and edge contour. The method is also capable of producing surface conditions at these critical edge areas that contribute to increased service life and functionality of parts that are severely stressed in service.
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Contributing Editor: Dave Davidson, Deburring/Finishing Technologist | 509.230.6821 | dryfinish@gmail.com | https://about.me/dave.davidson
If you have parts that need edge or surface finishing improvement and would like to have FREE sample part processing and a quotation developed for finishing the parts please contact Dave Davidson at dryfinish@gmail.com
I can also be reached at 509.230.6821. Information about equipment for bringing Centrifugal Iso-Finishing capability to your facility is also available…
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Deburring, Finishing, Part Performance and Productivity Deburring and surface conditioning of complex machined parts is one of the most troublesome problems faced by the metalworking industry.In many cases parts with complex geometric forms which are manufactured with very sophisticated computer-controlled equipment, are deburred, edge finished, and surface conditioned with manual or hand-held power tools. This labor-intensive manual handling often has a considerable negative impact on manufacturing process flow, productivity, and uniformity of features as well as part-to-part and lot-to-lot uniformity.
Often employees involved in these types of operations have a high incidence of repetitive motion injury. To say that the cost and long-term liability associated with this type of injury is substantial would be an understatement. It has been a long-standing industry-wide paradox that the final edge and surface-conditioning operations utilized on many types of precision parts have nowhere near the level of sophistication of the preceding machining operations. It flies in the face of logic to perform deburring and surface finishing operations carelessly with unsophisticated and uncontrolled methods on high value parts, when there has been an extensive investment made to produce a precision and uniform machined part. Manual methods can be very tedious and time-consuming. The workflow interruption and production bottlenecks which result are frequently one of the most significant headaches that manufacturing managers must confront.
The total cost involved in performing manual finishing often defy quantification. As these types of processes are seldom capital intensive, they frequently escape the budget scrutiny they deserve. Studies sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers some years ago point out that though many manufacturers had not established an adequate method for determining finishing costs, the operating and consumable costs associated with manual finishing methods were a surprisingly large fraction of the total manufacturing budget. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly clear that edge and surface finish effects can now be produced on parts that contribute substantially to their performance as well as wear and fatigue resistance values.
Turbo-Finish Advantages Turbo Abrasive Machining and Finishing processes were developed primarily for automating deburring and surface conditioning procedures for complex rotating components. As an automated machining/finishing process. TAM is designed to address the uniformity and productivity concerns noted above. Repetitive motion injury problems can be minimized or eliminated as manual methods are replaced with automated machining procedures. Substantial quality and uniformity improvements can be made in precision parts as the art in manual deburring is removed and replaced with the science of a controllable and repeatable machining sequence. The time and cost of having substantial work-in-progress delays, production bottlenecks, non-conforming product reviews, rework and scrap can be reduced dramatically. Manual processes consuming many hours are reduced to automated machining cycles of only a few minutes.