Study of soft abrasive flow field measurement based on particle image velocimetry

Soft abrasive flow (SAF) is a kind of solid-liquid flow used to grind complicated and tiny structures on moulds. In this study, soft abrasive flow field is simulated and then measured via the particle image velocimetry (PIV) to obtain its characteristics. Taking the structural surface of automobile mould as the research object, realizable k-ε double-equation turbulent model is used to describe the soft abrasive flow field. The distributions of dynamic pressure, the velocity of the solid particles and the turbulent dissipation rate of the SAF field are obtained in simulation. The particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement platform is established, and distributions of particle motion, velocity vector and vorticity of the flow field were obtained by PIV measurement platform. The measurement result of PIV is corresponding to that of the simulation, which shows that the soft abrasive flow field is turbulent. By using SAF, the roughness of the machined surface can be up to 27 μm.