Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has long been a leader in manufacturing and distribution. Once known for its steel industry, Pittsburgh is now home to a wide range of industries, including automotive, robotics, additive manufacturing, energy production, and life sciences to name a few. The components used in these industries require a high degree of accuracy and precision. Burrs and other imperfections can affect the function and performance of a finished product.
What are Burrs?
Burrs are surface imperfections created during the machining process. They’re a common issue with parts that have been manufactured using grinding, drilling, milling, turning, and other machining techniques. Burrs can occur for many reasons, including tool wear, improper machining parameters, and material properties of a workpiece.
In addition to burring, machined pieces can have other surface imperfections, including:
- Scratches
- Cracks
- Pits
- Dents
- Rust and other types of corrosion
- Streaks
- Weld splatter
- Dust
The problem with burrs is that they can have a negative impact on the function, longevity, and performance of a part. Deburring is the process of removing burrs from a workpiece. There are many ways to remove burrs from a workpiece. One of the most efficient is abrasive flow machining (AFM).
The Abrasive Flow Machining Process
Many Pittsburgh area industries incorporate abrasive flow machining (AFM) as part of their manufacturing process. AFM is used to smooth, polish, and remove surface imperfections from various metal, plastic, and ceramic pieces.
In the AFM process, a polymer compound is mixed with an abrasive material to create an abrasive flow media (extrude hone media). This media is extruded against and across the external and internal surfaces of a workpiece, eroding away burrs and smoothing out other surface imperfections. The rate at which the material is removed is dependent on many factors, including media flow rate, viscosity, concentration, particle size, and workpiece hardness.
AFM provides many benefits over other finishing processes. For one thing, AFM produces surface finishes that are smoother and more uniform than can be achieved with other finishing methods. It can achieve high levels of accuracy, producing consistent surface finishes and repeatable results. For many jobs, AFM can be more cost-effective than other finishing processes.
Deburring Finishing in Pittsburgh, PA
The outcome of any abrasive flow machining project depends on the abrasive flow media, or extrude hone media used during the process. Deburring & Finishing Technologies is a leading supplier of custom extrude hone media in Pittsburgh, PA. We have years of experience providing exceptional deburring and other abrasive flow finishing services to a wide range of Pittsburgh industries.
Custom extrude hone media is our specialty. Deburring & Finishing Technologies offers customers more than 50 different abrasive flow media options. In addition, we have the capability to re-engineer an extrude hone media to meet the unique demands of the materials being finished.
You can get in touch with us through our website or call Deburring & Finishing Technologies at (412) 849-1522 to learn more about our deburring abrasive flow machining services and custom extrude media in Pittsburgh, PA.