Centrifugal Disc Finishing of Additive Manufactured Workpieces

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Eckart Uhlmann
• Subject Area: Metal-Cutting and Abrasive Manufacturing Engineering ; Primary Shaping and Reshaping Technology, Additive Manufacturing
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 460895790

Centrifugal disc finishing is a manufacturing process used for the post-processing of additively manufactured workpieces. One of its advantages is based on high media velocities, allowing for a time-efficient reduction of the high roughness of additively manufactured workpieces compared to the widely used vibratory finishing. Furthermore, centrifugal disc finishing can be conducted with both, freely moving and fixed workpieces, making it suitable for processing of workpieces in high quantities as well as for the individual processing of high-quality components. Despite its potential, there is currently insufficient understanding of the process. Thus, in industrial contexts, processes are often designed based on empirical knowledge and through time- and cost-intensive test processing. Against this background, the primary objective of the first funding period was to gain insight into the processing mechanisms of centrifugal disc finishing and systematically build knowledge about the post-processing of additively manufactured workpieces. In this context, a process simulation based on the Discrete Element Method was developed. This simulation not only enables a profound understanding of centrifugal disc finishing processes but also allows for the prediction of processing results based on the correlation of simulated and experimental data. Based on the insights gained during the first funding period, the second funding period focuses on the shape deviation of additively manufactured workpieces as a result of centrifugal disc finishing. This has been a limiting factor for centrifugal disc finishing, particularly due to the comparatively high material removal rates during the post-processing of near net-shaped workpieces, posing the risk of impermissible shape deviations. In the second funding period, the process simulation developed during the first period will be expanded with an integrated material removal model, enabling the simulation of the change of shape of workpieces. For the first time, the effect of individual media-workpiece-contacts on the material removal can be analysed, promising a deep understanding of centrifugal disc finishing processes. Furthermore, the expanded process simulation will be used to develop a design model for material allowances at the edges of workpieces, allowing for anticipatory counteracting against the risk of impermissible shape deviations due to centrifugal disc finishing.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants