Development of a new ecological magnetic abrasive tool for finishing bio-wire material

This study proposes a new wire magnetic abrasive finishing (WMAF) process for finishing 316L SUS wire using ecological magnetic abrasive tools. 316L SUS wire is a biomaterial that is generally used in medical applications (e.g., coronary stent, orthodontics, and implantation). In medical applications of this material, a smooth surface is commonly required. Therefore, a new WMAF process using ecological magnetic abrasive tools was developed to improve the surface quality and physical properties of this biomaterial. In this study, the WMAF process of 316L SUS wire is separated into two finishing processes: (i) WMAF with ecological magnetic abrasive tools, and (ii) WMAF with industrial magnetic abrasive tools. The ecological magnetic abrasive tools consist of cuttlefish bone abrasives, olive oil, electrolytic iron powder, and diamond abrasive paste. The finishing characteristics of the two types of abrasive tools were also explored for different input parameters (i.e., vibrating magnetic field and rotating magnetic field). The results show that ecological magnetic abrasive tools can improve the initial surface roughness of 316L SUS wire from 0.23 μm to 0.06 μm. It can be concluded that ecological magnetic abrasive tools can replace industrial magnetic abrasive tools.