What materials can be processed using AFM technology?

The process is extremely versatile. It can be used to process soft metals as well as the hardest alloys, such as hardened steel and carbide. The choice of abrasive (usually silicon carbide or diamond) is dictated by the hardness of your die material to ensure maximum efficiency.

Can AFM eliminate EDM lines or deep defects?

AFM excels at improving roughness (Ra) and mirror polishing, but it is not designed for heavy material removal. Very pronounced EDM lines must be manually smoothed out beforehand. On the other hand, AFM is ideal for regular maintenance because it removes so little material that it allows for numerous reconditioning sessions without distorting the die profile.

What is the practical difference between investment (CapEx) and outsourcing?

Purchasing a machine (CapEx) is preferable for total in-house process control and high volumes. Outsourcing, on the other hand, requires no initial investment: you only pay for the standard tooling (approximately $2,000–$3,000) and a price per part (between $60 and $160 depending on complexity). This is the perfect solution for testing feasibility before full-scale industrialization.

How do flow rate and pressure affect the final result on my profiles?

AFM allows for fine control over flow rate and pressure parameters. In the narrowest passages of the die, resistance increases, which locally increases the abrasive action where it is most needed. This ensures a more balanced flow of aluminum during extrusion, reducing distortions in the final profile and improving production consistency.

Can dies that have already been used be polished, or only new dies?

The process is perfectly suited to both cases. For a new die, AFM creates the optimal surface finish and edge rounding required from the very first run. For a used die, AFM ensures effective cleaning of residues and repolishing of critical bearing areas, thereby significantly extending the life of your assets and maintaining tolerances for longer.

Aerospace manifolds finishing

In aerospace systems, manifolds play a critical role in ensuring the precise routing, regulation, and distribution of essential fluids such as hydraulic oil, fuel, compressed air, and oxygen :

– Hydraulic systems: provide high-pressure fluid for landing gear, flight controls, and braking.
– Fuel systems: control and balance fuel flow to engines for optimal performance.
– Pneumatic & environmental systems: manage airflow for cabin pressurization and engine control.

By combining multiple pipes, valves, and fittings into a single integrated flow control unit—typically made from lightweight, high-performance materials such as aluminum alloys, titanium, and stainless steel—they combine exceptional strength with reduced weight, simplified assembly, and fewer potential leak points, while improving the system’s overall reliability and performance.

But this design efficiency comes with a manufacturing challenge: as internal geometries become more compact and complex, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure flawless internal surfaces. Every passage, cross-bore, and transition must have a perfect finish to ensure optimal flow behavior and eliminate any risk of contamination or fatigue.

FINISHING AEROSPACE MANIFOLDS

Finishing aerospace manifolds requires smooth surfaces and effective cross-hole deburring and/or radiusing to prevent catastrophic failures. Key challenges include removing microscopic burrs from hidden cross-holes and achieving low Ra values in complex channels while maintaining tight tolerances.

This process is often challenged by:

Compact sizes & complex shapes: Progress in manufacturing technology and material science has made modern manifolds highly compact and intricate.

Difficult materials: Manifolds are constructed from durable materials such as titanium alloys and Inconel, which are susceptible to work-hardening.

Tight tolerances: Surface finishing must maintain strict dimensional limits (often ±0.02 mm or tighter) without damaging critical edges.

WHEN CONVENTIONAL FINISHING PROCESS REACH THEIR LIMITS

Conventional finishing processes for aerospace manifolds are often labour-intensive, time-consuming, and highly dependent on operator expertise.

Mechanical methods such as manual polishing, grinding, or abrasive tools can :

introduce variability,
risk damaging delicate geometries,
alter critical dimensions,
or leave inconsistent surface finishes and poorly controlled edge radii.

Saying nothing of areas that cannot be reached by mechanical methods.

At the same time, the growing shortage of skilled technicians and rising labor costs are making these traditional processes increasingly difficult to sustain.

Coupled with a significant increase in market demand and shorter production lead times, these challenges are driving manufacturers to adopt advanced, non-conventional finishing technologies capable of delivering repeatable surface quality, precise edge conditioning, and higher productivity while meeting the stringent performance and quality requirements of the aerospace industry.

EXTRUDE HONE'S NON-CONVENTIONAL FINISHING PROCESSES

Extrude Hone has a long-standing relationship with the aerospace industry, effectively addressing their critical finishing challenges. Our automated processes consistently deliver results in significantly less time, even in hard-to-reach areas.

The following table provides a brief about the capabilities:

Process	Deburring	Surface finish improvement	Edge radiusing
AFM	Micro deburring, even in otherwise inaccessible internal intersections	Improves surface finish up to 10X, even in difficult-to-reach, complex passages	Uniform, controlled radii in complex internal intersections along the flow passage
AFM Microflow	Deburring micro holes even in inaccessible areas	Improves the surface finish of the micro holes and precisely calibrates them to meet a flow target	Uniform, controlled edge radii at the micro hole entry
ECM	Deburring by dissolving burrs at targeted locations	Produces a high-quality surface on hard aerospace alloys	- Highest level of control for specific edge rounding; - consistent geometry without physical contact with the component
TEM	- Thorough deburring, inside & out, in a flash, through an oxidation reaction. - Reaches all internal passages simultaneously.	Doesn’t affect surface finish	Does not produce a controlled or measurable radius

WHY EXTRUDE HONE FOR AEROSPACE MANIFOLDS FINISHING ?

With over six decades of experience in advanced finishing, Extrude Hone understands the stringent requirements of the aerospace industry, particularly for complex flow components such as manifolds, where internal surface quality directly impacts performance.

Our solutions consistently deliver repeatable, controlled results on complex internal geometries that conventional methods cannot reliably achieve, ensuring compliance with tight specifications for surface finish, cross-hole deburring, and edge radiusing.

Application	Process	Material	Task	Cycle Time	Value Proposition
Manifold	ECM	Aluminum	Deburring, Radiusing hundreds of areas	5 minutes in 3 steps @ single part fixture	• Overall deburring and radiusing • Superior quality without any risk • High on productivity
Manifold	TEM	Aluminium	Thorough deburring	45 sec/cycle @ multi part fixture	• Thorough deburring • Controlled output quality • High on productivity
Valve body	ECM	Aluminium	Deburring & radiussing of all internal hole intersections	40 sec. / part @ single set-up	• Controllable process, deliver quality consistently • Attractive cost/part • High on productivity
Valve body	AFM	Aluminium	EDM recast layer removal, polishing of passage & edge radiusing at multiple locations	30 min/cycle @ single part fixture	• Multiple gains in a single process • Finishing inaccessible areas of a complex component • Assured output quality
Body	ECM	Aluminium	Deburring of internal intersections	45 sec. / cycle @ single part fixture	• Controllable process, deliver quality consistently • Attractive cost/part • High on productivity

Full process automation removes operator dependency and eliminates variability, ensuring stable quality across production. This results in:

Consistent output at scale
Reduced reliance on manual expertise
Stable, repeatable quality over long production runs

Designed for industrial performance, our solutions achieve very short cycle times—often under one minute—while maintaining high stability from prototype to full-scale production.

With a global presence, we support aerospace manufacturers locally and ensure continuity across international supply chains.

OUR MACHINES FOR MANIFOLDS FINISHING

To support these finishing requirements, Extrude Hone provides a range of industrial equipment designed to ensure full control, repeatability, and scalability of production.

Our systems are engineered to adapt to different manufacturing environments, from R&D and prototype workshops to high-volume aerospace production lines. Each machine is designed to maintain stable process conditions, ensuring consistent treatment of complex internal geometries such as intersecting channels and micro-features.

Across the range, the equipment is built around the same industrial principles:

Precise control of process parameters to ensure repeatable results
High stability during continuous operation for production environments
Compatibility with complex aerospace components and tight tolerances
Scalable configurations to support both low-volume and high-volume manufacturing
Robust design for long-term industrial reliability and minimal downtime

This equipment-based approach enables manufacturers to industrialize the finishing of aerospace manifolds while maintaining consistent quality, regardless of part complexity or production volume.

Discover our machines

Contract shop opportunity: accessing top machining technologies.

For those unwilling to invest, Extrude Hone provides contract shop services globally.

Benefit from trial and contract capabilities, extensive experience, and expert support to ensure quick turnaround and uncompromised quality.

At Extrude Hone, we are committed to providing an unparalleled experience. We use our knowledge to help your projects. We work hard to ensure the best solutions.

Our goal is to enhance efficiency and make your parts flawless.

LET US DO IT FOR YOU

CASE STUDIES

Learn more about our aerospace and manifolds experience

AEROSPACE AND MILITARY HYDRAULIC SYSTEM

Fluid Power Journal July 2024

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ARIANEGROUP ADOPT ABRASIVE FLOW MACHINING

Various types of impellers and wheels are polished by AFM.

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TEM for turbomachinery

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FAQ ABOUT AEROSPACE MANIFOLDS FINIHING

Can the Extrude Hone processes handle different materials?

Yes. Extrude Hone’s finishing technologies are compatible with virtually all materials commonly used in the aerospace industry, including aluminium alloys, stainless steels, titanium alloys, Inconel®, cobalt-chrome alloys, and other nickel-based superalloys.

Each process can be optimized to match the material’s properties and the required finishing objective, whether it is precision deburring, surface finish improvement, edge radiusing or flow optimization.

Can AFM eliminate AM lines?

Extrude Hone has extensive experience in finishing additively manufactured aerospace components.

Our Abrasive Flow Machining (AFM) technology is particularly effective at improving the internal surface finish of complex geometries that are inaccessible using conventional methods. AFM can remove partially sintered particles, smooth internal flow passages, and improve component performance while preserving critical dimensions.

Do Extrude Hone processes affect the material properties?

Our finishing processes are designed to improve the geometry and surface quality of a component without adversely affecting its mechanical, chemical, thermal or microstructural properties.

When correctly selected and controlled, the processes preserve the integrity of the base material while delivering consistent, repeatable finishing results that comply with demanding aerospace quality standards.

Can Extrude Hone support me in finishing prototype batches?

Absolutely. Extrude Hone operates contract manufacturing centers around the world that support customers from early product development through production.

Whether you need a single prototype, a small validation batch, or process development support, our engineering teams can help determine the most suitable finishing solution before scaling up to serial production.

Are these processes capable of handling high-volume series production?

Extrude Hone’s technologies are fully automated and designed for high repeatability and productivity.

Depending on the process and application, cycle times can be less than a minute while maintaining consistent quality from part to part. Our solutions are used worldwide for continuous, high-volume aerospace manufacturing, providing reliable process control, reduced manual intervention, and excellent scalability from low-volume production to full-rate manufacturing.

EXTRUDE HONE NEAR ME

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Aerospace manifolds finishing

FINISHING AEROSPACE MANIFOLDS

WHEN CONVENTIONAL FINISHING PROCESS REACH THEIR LIMITS

EXTRUDE HONE'S NON-CONVENTIONAL FINISHING PROCESSES

WHY EXTRUDE HONE FOR AEROSPACE MANIFOLDS FINISHING ?

OUR MACHINES FOR MANIFOLDS FINISHING

Contract shop opportunity: accessing top machining technologies.

CASE STUDIES

AEROSPACE AND MILITARY HYDRAULIC SYSTEM

ARIANEGROUP ADOPT ABRASIVE FLOW MACHINING

SHARPER EDGES, STRONGER ENGINES FOR TURBOMACHINERY

FAQ ABOUT AEROSPACE MANIFOLDS FINIHING

Can the Extrude Hone processes handle different materials?

Can AFM eliminate AM lines?

Do Extrude Hone processes affect the material properties?

Can Extrude Hone support me in finishing prototype batches?

Are these processes capable of handling high-volume series production?

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EXTRUDE HONE NEAR ME

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