Massa viscoelástica sustentável para usinagem de fluxo abrasivo com gordura animal

Abstract

The abrasive paste developed in this study, formulated from bovine fat and Moringa oleifera seed oil as a sustainable alternative to conventional synthetic pastes, exhibited the typical behavior of a non-Newtonian viscoelastic and thixotropic material. It presented high structural integrity at rest and a pronounced reduction in viscosity under shear, ensuring storage stability and good flowability during application. This paste was applied in the abrasive flow machining (AFM) process on SAE 1045 steel and 6351-T6 aluminum specimens to evaluate the resulting surface finish. Mass analyses showed that AFM did not produce significant material loss in either substrate, indicating minimal removal consistent with the nature of the process. The assessment of roughness parameters, supported by statistical tests, demonstrated that aluminum exhibited a substantially superior response, with expressive and significant reductions in Ra, Rq, Rz, and Rt, strong surface uniformization, and improvements in functional parameters such as Rk and Rpk. In steel, although roughness was reduced, the effect was more limited and heterogeneous, reflecting its higher hardness and resistance to abrasive wear. Microscopic evaluation corroborated these findings, revealing deeper polishing and a more homogeneous texture in aluminum, whereas steel showed only partial smoothing of machining marks. Overall, the efficiency of AFM proved to be directly dependent on the material, being markedly higher in more ductile substrates such as aluminum, and the proposed abrasive paste demonstrated technical feasibility, functional performance, and alignment with environmental demands for more sustainable alternatives.