Influence of burnishing process on surface roughness, hardness, and microstructure of some non-ferrous metals

Burnishing is a cold working process, which easily produces a smooth and work-hardened surface by plastic deformation of surface irregularities. In the present work, the influence of the main burnishing parameters (speed, feed, force, number of tool passes, and ball diameter) on the surface roughness and the hardness of two different non-ferrous metals were studied. Furthermore, subsurface hardness and microstructure under specific conditions were also studied. It was found that the burnishing forces and the number of tool passes are the most pronounced parameters, which have great effects on the workpiece's surface during the burnishing process. A simple, inexpensive and newly designed ball-burnishing tool, with interchangeable adapter for using different ball diameters, was used throughout the experimental work presented in this paper.