Thermal Investigation of a Honing Process Utilizing Polyborosiloxane Impregnated with Abrasive Particles
A novel honing and polishing process utilizes polyborosiloxane impregnated with a range of abrasives in particulate form, to polish mould cavities of complex geometry. The polymer, which deforms in such a way as to allow complete coverage of the target surface, is used to carry the abrasive. This compound is agitated using an ultrasonic source and is made to flow relative to the target surface. The process causes heating of the various components in the system. This is the second paper concerned with the prediction of the resultant temperature distributions. The work reported here is an extension of the previous work to take into account the complex geometry of the multi-component system used in the operation. Furthermore, the development of the honing process required the introduction of flow of polishing compound relative to the workpiece. As a result the previous work has been extended to take into account the thermal effects of this flow. The modelling work has been complemented by measurement of temperatures in a geometry that is representative of the processing requirements. The calculated and measured results have been compared and the model validated accordingly.