Investigation on formation mechanism of the burrs during abrasive reaming based on the single-particle abrasive micro-cutting behavior

Abrasive reaming is a low-speed grinding process, which has been applied in precision machining of fuel nozzle holes of aero-engine. The burrs produced in abrasive reaming always have a great influence on the machining quality. In order to investigate the burr formation mechanism in abrasive reaming, a micro-cutting model of the single-particle abrasive was developed to simulate side burr formation. The model simplified the operation of abrasive reaming process and transformed the helical motion into the linear motion of the abrasive grains. The simulation results were also verified experimentally. The side burrs were characterized by four parameters, e.g., the side burr cross-sectional area S, the burr thickness bg, the burr height h0, and the burr root thickness br. The effects of the position (i.e., the entrance and exit of the nozzle), cutting speed, cutting-edge inclination, cutting depth, and cutting width on the side burrs were discussed. Accordingly, the formation mechanism of side burrs was explored based on the simulation results of single-particle abrasive micro-cutting behavior. Finally, the optimum processing parameters were obtained as follows: cutting speed vs = 0.4 m/s, cutting-edge inclination angle λs = −60°, minor cutting depth aps = 2 μm each time, and little cutting width bps = 2 μm each time. Under such condition, the burr is tiny in thickness, short in length, and easy to be dislodged.