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A team of researchers from the Manufacturing Technologies Research Group (TECNOFAB) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is participating in BRUVIT. The aim of this project is to develop and validate the ball burnishing process assisted by ultrasonic vibration to improve the hardness and surface integrity of parts on a parallel lathe.
The aim of this project is to analyse the viability of using a vibration-assisted burnishing process on a parallel lathe and to validate its operation on industrial parts. With this project, the performance of this tool was tested in relevant settings outside of the laboratory with industrial parts.
The vibration-assisted burnishing process can be used on surfaces that are worked on by any machine tool in the workshop to finish them by plastic deformation. Simultaneously, this increases the hardness and residual stress of the material and reduces its characteristic texture.
This new burnishing process is therefore ideal to manufacture parts with improved surface integrity, which means that they will have greater durability and better features.
The project has three phases: a market study and positioning to identify relevant partners in the implementation value chain, an experimental and testing phase of the product to carry out tests on real parts, and a final transfer phase in which the tests are transferred to the premises of future users or developers of the final model of the tool.
The burnishing technology only deforms the material plastically. It does not generate waste, as no shavings are produced. This means that the process is cleaner and less harmful for the environment than other similar processes. Furthermore, the process does not generate noise, which is another added value in relation to the environment in which it is carried out.
The sectors in which this new process can be applied include the transport sector (represented by automotive and aerospace companies) and the biomedical sector, which requires the manufacture of parts with very specific finishes to promote the potential bioactivity of the material.
Budget and funding
The project has a total budget of €115,000. It has been funded through the State Plan of Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2021-2023 (PDC2022-133596-I00; Spanish State Research Agency) and has a duration of two years (2022-2024).
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