Most 3D printed components require surface finishing for a nice smooth end product finish. To achieve this, the additive manufactured parts should go through a 3-stage finishing process including a deburring stage, reducing the surface roughness and a mirror polishing stage.
In this blog article, we would like to discuss about the challenges we faced when we had to smooth the surface and mirror finish a fragile Titanium 3D printed decorative part.
Our client approached ActOn team as he required a surface finishing process to smooth the surface and mirror polish a 3D printed decorative part. While the initial surface roughness was 15µm, the actual main issues faced by our client were:
As we had the experience of finishing 3d printed parts we decided to run a trial in the Centrifugal High Energy finishing machine using abrasive media and polishing compound.
Through the tests carried out we decided that the best way to finish these parts without causing any damage was by using ActOn Finishing DT (centrifugal disc finishing machine) and CPM (centrifugal high energy finishing machine) series finishing machines. Both machines are typically used for processing small components. Also, these can be aggressive enough to improve the surface finish of the 3d printed part, yet precise enough to process and mirror polish the most delicate piece.
The final finishing process has been achieved in 3 stages:
The process delivered a smooth and mirror polished surface, reducing the part’s Ra from 15µm to 0.18µm in a considerably reduced time, whilst maintaining the dimensional integrity of the part.
Before / After
To learn more about ActOn’s finishing technology for Metal 3D Printing industry click here. For further information regarding the finishing process contact our technical team.