An Investigation of the Surface Topography of Ball Burnished Mild Steel and Aluminium

An experimental analysis was undertaken on ball burnished mild steel and aluminium using a purpose built burnishing tool. The analysis was designed to assess the effects of burnishing feed, force and speed and the number of tool passes on the surface roughness and surface hardness of a mild steel and an aluminium workpiece. In some cases, experiments showed that improvements of as much as 70% in surface quality were obtained when varying the mix of parameters.