Deburring of sheet metal by barrel finishing

In sheet metal processes the burrs cannot be completely eliminated during the process but can be minimized by optimization of the process parameters. Hence the deburring often becomes an essential secondary operation. Most of the deburring operations are hand-made and therefore several manufacturers tend to eliminate these tedious and labor-intensive operations due to time and Cost issues. Moreover, clamping problems can arise which, together with the deburring forces, can induce dimension alterations and local deformations, particularly for thin sheets. Barrel finishing is an old technique commonly used to improve the surface roughness of complicated parts, but can find interesting applications also in the deburring. Aim of this work is to present an experimental investigation on the deburring of sheet metal performed by barreling. A technological model has been developed in order to assess the height of the burr as a function of the initial burr and of the working time.