Leading Abrasive Flow Machining Manufacturers

AFM, often referred to as abrasive flow deburring or extrusion honing, is a method of internal surface finishing that involves passing an abrasive fluid through a work piece. Abrasive flow machining forces a semi-liquid, abrasive material through or over a workpiece to polish surfaces and edges. Only in areas where the media flow is restricted does abrasion occur; other regions are unaffected. It can simultaneously process many chosen sections on a work piece, including unreachable locations. Read More…

Abrasive Flow Machining Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) is a secondary water jet machining process used to smooth, polish, radius, and remove cracks and burrs from hard to reach or internal surfaces of machinery, parts and products. It uses a polymer resin and abrasive materials, which are called media, in water under pressure to reach bends, cavities and edges.

Hennig Gasket & Seals is a leader in the Chicago-area sealing community. We use a CNC waterjet machine and water jet machining process to cut nonmetallic materials up to 2" thick. Our water jet cutter offers a precision and accuracy level of +/- .005", as well as time and cost efficiency. Call today!

Hennig Gasket & Seals Inc. $$$

KLH Industries is a tool and manufacturing facility that uses waterjet machining, CNC machining, abrasive waterjet cutting and more. We can cut a variety of materials: ceramic, composites, ferrous, glass, nonferrous, plastic, rubber, stone, wood and more.

KLH Industries, Inc. $$$

JIT Waterjet offers quality precision waterjet cutting services to a wide variety of industries. Try our Dynamic® waterjet - it eliminates edge taper. Using the best in waterjet cutting technology, JIT lowers cost and production time for all our customers.

JIT Companies $$$

Westbrook Engineering Co. is a distributor of new & used Techni waterjet cutting systems. All systems are designed for the harsh waterjet environment. We use corrosion resistant materials & minimal moving parts to ensure reliable & accurate machines for many years with minimum maintenance. Since 1964, Westbrook has offered fabricating machinery lines that include water jet cutting machines.

Westbrook Engineering Co., Inc. $$$

Whatever your need, from decorative items to tooling components with tight tolerances, abrasive jet machining is an effective 2D shape cutting tool. With precision abrasive waterjet machining, manufacturing highly detailed and accurate components is possible in a variety of materials and thicknesses.

AyersTech Waterjet Cutting $$$
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placeholder image Hennig Gasket & Seals Inc. KLH Industries, Inc. JIT Companies Westbrook Engineering Co., Inc. AyersTech Waterjet Cutting

abrasive flow machining

One fixture can process several or even dozens of pieces, resulting in production speeds of up to hundreds of parts per hour. Changing the process parameters produces different outcomes. Even in production settings, tooling can be created so that it can be modified in a matter of minutes. The surface finishes produced by the AFM method often improve by 90%, and stock removal may be controlled to within 10% of the stock removed.

How Abrasive Flow Machining Works

The abrasive-filled fluid runs through the item during the extrusion honing procedure to erode it. The elevated features on the surface are removed as it comes into contact with the abrasive fluid, similar to how sandpaper removes wood splinters. Hydraulics push the fluid through during the process. No areas are overlooked since the putty-like material may mold itself to the exact shape of the item chamber. Abrasive Flow Machining can be used as a two- or one-way flow technique.

A semisolid abrasive media is extruded back and forth through passageways created by the work piece. The process is abrasive only in the extrusion area, where the flow is constrained. The abrasive media gently and uniformly hones the surface or edges, simulating a grinding or lapping procedure. This technique helps shape materials ranging from soft aluminum to strong nickel alloys, ceramics, and carbides.

afm process

Applications of Abrasive Flow Machining

  • AFM is used in the automotive Industry to enhance uniformity and surface quality of finished products. The automotive industry often uses radiusing -a method of creating a consistent radius for rounded edges. AFM also helps polish engine parts to increase efficiency and reduces emissions.
  • The aerospace industry uses AFM to improve the texture of products. This increases cycle fatigue strength.
  • The die and mold industry uses AFM to lower production costs while maintaining uniform and quality products.
  • The AFM process is also used in the medical industry through deburring. Deburring removes extra material from components that have been cut, drilled, or burred. This is crucial for objects like needles and cannulas that are injected into people.
afm in automotive industry

Benefits of Abrasive Flow Machining

  • Versatility: Any metal, including titanium, super alloys, and materials that have been hardened or are otherwise challenging to mill, can be processed using AFM.
  • Precision: Targeted and challenging spots, such as cross-drilled and intersecting holes, can be emptied of component material by AFM.
  • Efficiency: A single pass can finish the roughing and finishing of the workpiece.
  • Customizability: The abrasive media can be developed to meet the demands of a given application.
  • Consistency: Technique control offered by the AFM process ensures excellent reproducibility and constant quality.

Drawbacks of abrasive flow machining

  • The process is very expensive and is also not usable on soft or ductile products
  • Processing of blind holes is very complex

Choosing the Proper Abrasive Flow Machining Company

To make sure you have the most beneficial outcome when selecting an abrasive flow machining company, it is important to compare at least 5 companies using our abrasive flow machining directory. Each abrasive flow machining company has a business profile page that highlights their areas of experience and capabilities and a contact form to directly communicate with the company for more information or request a quote. Review each abrasive flow machining company website using our patented website previewer to get an idea of what each company specializes in, and then use our simple RFQ form to contact multiple abrasive flow machining companies with the same message.

Abrasive Flow Machining Informational Video

 

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