Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is increasingly used to create complex 3D components at near net shape. However, the surface finish (SF) of the metal AM part is uneven, with surface roughness being variable over the facets of the design. Standard post-processing methods such as grinding and linishing often meet with major challenges in finishing parts of complex shape. This paper reports on research that demonstrated that mass finishing (MF) processes are able to deliver high-quality surface finishes (Ra and Sa) on AM-generated parts of a relatively complex geometry (both internal features and external facets) under select conditions. Four processes were studied in this work: stream finishing, high-energy (HE) centrifuge, drag finishing and disc finishing. Optimisation of the drag finishing process was then studied using a structured design of experiments (DOE). The effects of a range of finishing parameters were evaluated and optimal parameters and conditions were determined. The study established that the proposed method can be successfully applied in drag finishing to optimise the surface roughness in an industrial application and that it is an economical way of obtaining the maximum amount of information in a short period of time with a small number of tests. The study has also provided an important step in helping understand the requirements of MF to deliver AM-generated parts to a target quality finish and cycle time.

The multi-energy vibration processing, namely the combination of different energies or forces acting on a free abrasive medium for grinding of metal parts, is becoming more used in finishing processes, in recent years. However, the complexity that is involved in the aforementioned process requires a careful look in the particularities of the process itself in general and the movement of the abrasive media, in particular. In this paper, the nature of the collective movement of abrasive granules between the independently oscillating surfaces of the reservoir and the processed parts is described. This study presents the dissipation of the kinetic energy of the granules in a pseudo-gas from the working medium granules. The motion of the medium granules near the part surface, which is caused by pseudo-waves initiated by vibrations of the working surfaces of the vibration machine reservoir, is demonstrated. Furthermore, the nature of the motion of the granules near the oscillating part surface is described. The analysis that is presented here permits the determination of metal removal quantity from the surface of the workpiece as a result of multi-agent group action of the vibrating reservoir surface and the processed part. The optimal conditions for the finishing process can be determined based on the analysis presented.

Vibration treatment in finishing processes is becoming a more complex technology, sometimes leading to weak shock waves occurring in the abrasive working medium. Here, the preconditions are discussed for the appearance of the effect of a shock wave of the vibrating working medium in a vibrating machine reservoir during multi-energy vibration processing. The peculiarities of the propagation of the force pulse of abrasive granules in the working medium, as in a pseudogas, are considered based on the kinetic theory of gases and the equations of gas dynamics. The paper also describes the motions of the parts in the working medium and the mechanism of the appearance of a weak shock wave, such as the compressive shock wave of abrasive granules. The interaction of the surface of the oscillating processed part with the granules of the working medium is studied. The characteristic of the Hugoniot adiabat for working medium granules is given. The influence of compression shock wave on the process of vibration processing is revealed. A comparison is made with experimental data.