A method of modifying a surface of a workpiece comprises providing a system comprising a sealed mixing vessel having an interior chamber wherein the workpiece and working bodies are contained. The sealed mixing vessel is then uniaxially vibrated at a frequency between 15 hertz and 1 kilohertz, and at a vibrational amplitude between about 0.2 cm and 3 cm such that the working bodies impact the surface of the workpiece. The method is useful for shot peening and abrasive finishing the workpiece.

A method of polishing a metallic workpiece includes: mounting the workpiece in a hopper; loading the hopper with a polishing media comprising, by weight percent, more than 98% metallic chips, less than 2% liquid, and less than 0.05% abrasive; and oscillating the hopper for a run time, thereby generating a flow of the polishing media over the workpiece, until a predetermined surface finish is achieved on the workpiece.

Vibratory treatment apparatus including a first receptacle arranged to receive media for vibratory treatment of the article, the first receptacle defining a first aperture; and a first valve positioned at the first aperture of the first receptacle, the first valve being arranged to allow passage of the article there through and to prevent the flow of media through the first aperture.

A method and apparatus for vibro-treating an object. The method includes the steps of controlling a relative displacement between a vibro-treating media and a surface area of the object to provide a vibro-treating effect; and, controlling movement of the object relative to a surface of the vibro-treating media whilst controlling relative displacement between the vibro-treating media and the surface area of the object, according to one or more pre-determined conditions, to provide a substantially even vibro-treating condition over the surface area of the object.

An upper shield and a lower shield may be coupled to a rotor for polishing airfoils of the rotor in a vibratory bowl. The upper shield and the lower shield may include spars. The spars may correspond to leading edges and trailing edges of the airfoils. A media including abrasive particles may be flowed through the rotor in the vibratory bowl. The spars may protect the leading edges and trailing edges of the airfoils from excessive material removal by the abrasive particles.

A method for modifying the mechanical and surface properties of a component. The method involves: removably attaching a component to at least one component support that is located within a vibratory trough of a component treatment apparatus, the at least one component support being a support shaft upon which the component is removably mountable within the vibratory trough; supplying the vibratory trough with treatment media; moving the component support or the vibratory trough so that the component is immersed into the treatment media; vibrating the vibratory trough to provide a substantially uniform surface treatment of the component, the vibratory trough being movable by at least one trough vibrating mechanism whose actuation is controlled by a controller in response to signals received from at least one sensor located on or within the vibratory trough; removing the component from the treatment media; and detaching the component from the component support.

In one embodiment, a vibration barrel polishing method using a vibration barrel polishing system that includes a polishing tank having a bottom surface therein and a polishing jig capable of holding a workpiece and rotatable around a rotation axis is provided. This method includes a step of supporting the polishing jig in the polishing tank in a state in which a lowermost portion of the polishing jig is separated from the bottom surface, a clearance d between the lowermost portion of the polishing jig and the bottom surface being greater than or equal to a grain diameter of a polishing medium, a step of causing the polishing medium to flow in the polishing tank, and a step of rotating the polishing jig around the rotation axis in the state in which the lowermost portion of the polishing jig is separated from the bottom surface.

A magnetic field assisted vibratory finishing device for a minute structure and a finishing method is provided. The device includes a rotating shaft, a workpiece clamping device, a magnetic field generating device, a vibration assisting device, a three-axis precision displacement platform and a base. The magnetic field generating device includes a baffle plate, magnetic poles and a magnetic pole groove. The vibration assisting device includes a housing, guide fixing rods, a vibration motor, a vibration connecting plate, and compression springs. The workpiece clamping device clamps parts of structural shapes, and the frequency controller can control the motion mode of the magnetic field generating device during the finishing processing, thereby controlling the motion track of grinding material.

A vibratory grinding device has a work container and a grinding body removal device by which grinding bodies can be led out of the work container.

A polishing method is described for polishing a machine component comprising at least one airfoil portion comprised of a suction side, a pressure side, a leading edge and a trailing edge. The method provides for arranging the machine component in a container and constraining the machine component to the container. A polishing mixture is added in the container, and the container is caused to vibrate together with the machine component constrained thereto, thereby generating a polishing mixture flow along the airfoil portion until a final arithmetic average roughness is achieved.