HOW THE PROCESS WORKS:

Uniquely designed polymer resins, permeated with abrasive

materials, allow the controlled surfaces to become abraded
and/or polished. These materials may be customized for specific
results with various grit types, sizes, viscosity and flow rates
that allow an efficient material removal and/or polishing specific
to desired results.
A temperature-controlled cooling jacket encapsulates the
pressurized work area for consistent and repeatable flow-control
objectives. The key variables to control in the Abrasive Flow
Machining (AFM) process are media type, operating pressure and
surface speed of the media flow.
In most cases, a simple fixture is needed to successfully deploy
the abrasive media in the location desired and at the correct,
consistent and repeatable surface speed.
Fixtures can be made from inexpensive, structural-grade nylon
that provides a more than adequate strength-to-weight ratio and
can be easily machined to customized configurations.
Media viscosity and flow rates are controlled by pressure and
temperature settings engineered for maximum efficiency and
effective results.

Welcome To Abrasive Flow Machining

 Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM)
is a precisely controlled and thereby repeatable method of edge
conditioning and surface finish enhancement on a broad range of
base materials.
The selection process controls many variables: flow-direction,
temperature, pressure and target(s) for deployment by the use
of fixtures as well as the viscosity, flow-rate, grit type and size
of the preferred media. These critical parameters are selected on
a case-by-case basis to provide the desired, customized results
for each component.
The fixture is a critical component and must be designed and
manufactured to effectively and economically direct the media to
the target areas selected for improvement.
Engineered Finishing Corporation provides many years of
experience in the AFM process to effectively produce your
required results.

Monday 12 April 2010 763.785.9278 • 10044 Goodhue St. NE • Blaine, MN 55449-4401 An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company
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The recent increase in the use of hard, high strength and

temperature resistant materials in engineering necessitated the
development of newer machining techniques. Conventional
machining or finishing methods are not readily applicable to the new
materials like hastalloy, nitralloy, waspalloy, nimonics, carbides,
ceramics etc.

Conventional machining processes when applied to these newer materials:

1. Are uneconomical,

2. Produce poor degree of surface finish and accuracy,

3. Produce some stress,

4. Highly insufficient.

Newer
machining processes may be classified on the basis of nature of energy
employed. Abrasive flow machining (AFM) is relatively new process among
non-conventional machining processes. Low material removal rate happens
to be one serious limitation of almost all processes. Magneto abrasive
flow machining is a new development in AFM.
With the use of
magnetic field around the work piece in abrasive flow machining ,we can
increase the material removal rate as well as the surface finish. The
various parameters and their effects on the performance of magneto
abrasive flow machining have been presented.

Medical Equipment &

Device Manufacturing
 • Food processing
• Semiconductor (front-end) equipment
• Pharmaceutical manufacturers
• Ultra-clean or high purity devices
Polishing surfaces to mirror-like requirements minimizes the
amount of microscopic and/or inaccessible areas that enable
contamination or entrapment.
Ultra-smooth surface finishes greatly diminish the areas of
concern for surface absorption, chemical contaminants, foreign
particulate and bacteria. Additionally, the AFM process
minimizes “flow-retardation” due to machining and/or die and
mold “microgrooves.”
AFM allows for extremely fine finishes on very complex
geometry and difficult-to-reach surface configurations often
found in prosthetic applications and in a broad range of
materials.

INTERNAL EDGE CONTROL

The Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) process provides a

controlled and repeatable method for burr removal and
surface finish enhancement at hole intersection(s) and
difficult to reach surfaces. Irregular holes, shapes and
intersecting surfaces can be deburred or even polished with
precision and predictable results in places that are impossible
to reach by virtually any other method.
AFM removes the burrs and enhances the adjacent surfaces
byflowing the selected abrasive material on the target
surface/edge and is typically limited ONLY by hole size
coupled with the particulate size of the chosen abrasive.
MOLDS AND DIES

• Metal forming
• Glass forming
• Plastic applications
Critical, forming surfaces may be enhanced as much as (X10)
on many applications. EDM’d surfaces (all types), milled surfaces
and ground surfaces can be consistently and uniformly polished
to a very low Ra to further enhance speed, part release, and
overall quality and production efficiency while preserving
critical tolerances.
Higher Performance In
Internal Combustion Engines

• Diesel engines
• Automotive
A high-pressure fuel injection system’s life cycle can be
extended through Abrasive Flow Machining by reducing surface
cracks and more uniform surface finishes in critical areas of
fatigue failure.

Reduction of resistance in fuel and exhaust passages enhances

performance and efficiency while maintaining critical tolerance
parameters. Smoother intake passages allow for more effective
gas/air mixing, higher efficiency and a more powerful engine.