FINE SURFACE FINISHING OF CIRCULAR TAPERED MOULD CAVITY FOR LIGHT COVERS USING MAGNETORHEOLOGICAL GRINDING PROCESS

Abstract

Moulds are used in industries to make plastic parts that require clear and defect-free surfaces. So, mould cavity surfaces must be finely finished. The novel magnetorheological grinding (MRG) process is employed in this study to fine finish the H13 circular tapered mould cavity surfaces, which are generally used for producing light covers. To achieve finely finished circular tapered mould cavity surfaces, the best process employing parametric combination of current, rotating workpiece, rotational and reciprocation speeds of MRG tool is obtained using the Taguchi technique. The roughness value on the circular tapered lateral and closed-end surfaces of the mould cavity decreased to 70[Formula: see text]nm from 450[Formula: see text]nm and to 60[Formula: see text]nm from 320[Formula: see text]nm, respectively, after using the present method with the best parametric combination. The surface characteristics improved significantly. Thus, the present process can help to achieve finely finished H13 circular tapered mould cavity surfaces for making clear and defect-free polycarbonate light covers.