Building on its original, revolutionary AFM process, which the company pioneered more than four decades ago, Extrude Hone now takes it to the next level of process capability with AutoFlow AFM. With its highly sophisticated controls system, the AutoFlow AFM process represents a significant step forward in AFM processing. The new AutoFlow AFM process reduces operating costs, offers efficiencies that improve process predictability, increases output quality, and enables a wider application of the process.

While the new AutoFlow AFM is a significant advancement, it is not considered a replacement for the traditional, pressure-driven AFM process. In fact, both processes have proven applications within the market, which are largely determined by client needs or workpiece requirements.

Extrude Hone’s traditional AFM process is recognized as one of the most cost-effective processes available for deburring and surface finishing workpieces. In fact, the AFM process uniformly smoothes and blends in features to a quality level and speed unachievable by hand or machine finishing. At the heart of the AFM process is Extrude Hone’s unique, abrasive laden polymer media, which produces the repeatable finishing results that are critical to a workpiece’s performance, strength, and reliability.

Since traditional AFM processing is designed to maintain constant pressure to the media, it occasionally results in some fluctuations in the temperature, flow rate and viscosity of the media. These fluctuations may impact the AFM system’s ability to predict processing times or processing results.

The new AutoFlow AFM process moves beyond the pressure-driven environment to a systems managed environment that provides more control over the media and extends media life. Extrude Hone’s next-generation AutoFlow AFM process maintains a constant and consistent media flow rate designed to achieve superior, repeatable results on workpieces that require tighter tolerances or are more sensitive to the production process.

Through the inclusion of position sensors, hydraulic valves and a highly sophisticated controls program, the AutoFlow AFM environment inherently minimizes the stress applied to the media. In addition, to maximize the effectiveness of the media in the AutoFlow AFM environment, Extrude Hone chemists, material engineers, and formulation technicians have specifically engineered a premier formula for this new process. As a result, the media fluctuations in temperature, flow and viscosity are reduced, the media life is extended and a more stable, constant and predictable processing rate is produced, increasing processing efficiencies and outcomes exponentially.

According to Bill Walch, Manager of AFM Process Development, the AutoFlow AFM marks an important milestone in the evolution of abrasive flow machining. “Extrude Hone invented the abrasive flow machining (AFM) process. After a proven 40-year history in AFM, it was a natural and logical step in its evolution to advance these capabilities by developing next-generation process controls,” explains Walch. “With the introduction of the AutoFlow AFM, Extrude Hone has once again delivered innovations that are revolutionizing this area of precision finishing. For workpieces with tighter tolerances and higher sensitivity to processing due to design complexity, the AutoFlow AFM offers customers the ideal low cost finishing solution.”

IMTS attendees are encouraged to stop by booth #7100 to learn more about Extrude Hone’s AutoFlow controlled AFM, as well as Extrude Hone’s traditional AFM and other surface finishing and deburring technologies.