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Al-Si alloys are commonly used in the automotive and aircraft industry because of their excellent strength-to-weight ratio. Due to the laser powder bed fusion manufacturing process, inhomogeneous cooling affects the microstructure as well as defect distributions. Within this paper, the uniform fatigue damage tolerance assessment was further qualified for (miniature) bending specimens with different loaded volumes based on the concepts according to Murakami (√area) and Shiozawa for an initial defect-based model. These approaches were used to calculate defect-related fatigue life curves, in which the cyclic stress intensity factor (ΔK) at the initiating defect (√area) was used to represent local stress concentration at the crack tip instead of nominal stress-based S-N curves. Results of S-N curves did not allow a precise lifetime prediction due to increasing effect of manufacturing-related defect distributions, while fracture mechanical approaches enable a uniform fatigue lifetime description of different testing volumes. The calculated fatigue limit and short crack threshold value suggested by Noguchi based on the extended approach of Murakami need to be compared and validated experimentally. Furthermore, the effects of miniaturization and crack propagation have been identified and considered. Uniform fatigue life predictions and efficient materials testing have been combined and show potential for future research.

In milling processes in which material removal is performed periodically from solid material, dynamic effects are generally considered to be responsible for instabilities and subsequent productivity limits. Usually, in such applications, the process-inherent complex dynamic load spectrum on machines, tools and workpieces is considered together with vibration-based relative displacements that can be attributed to the regenerative effect. There are numerous techniques in the literature addressing the suppression of these dynamic effects, but they require a large amount of analysis and implementation effort as well as specific expert knowledge. The approach presented here, however, provides a universally applicable method for suppressing chatter vibrations and deflections. By applying structure elements to the flanks of the minor cutting edges of HSS end mills, it was possible to increase the chatter-free limiting depth of cut ap,crit in the milling processes of the aluminum alloy EN AW-7075. Structured tools were used in ramp milling tests to investigate various effects, such as the influence of certain geometric design features on the stabilization potential compared to a reference tool. Furthermore, the effects of varied process parameter configurations and wear-related effects on the performance of the tool concept were focused on as well. The three key design features of the cutting edge and the structured profiles were identified from the results of the investigation, which, when combined in the most efficient design, in each case led to the development of an optimized structure and process configuration with cumulative potential for increasing the stability limit up to 200%.

In the present study, AA6082 aluminium is deposited onto AISI 4140 steel substrates via friction surfacing (FS). Aiming to understand the influence of substrate surface for the bonding mechanism during the plasticising as well as the deposition phase, three different surface topographies have been manufactured via grinding and machining. Subsequently, FS process parameter dependencies on the deposits have been investigated. The resulting optical appearance, geometry and microstructure of the deposits have been studied. A deeper surface topography was found to facilitate plasticising and therefore FS layer deposition. Defect-free layer-to-substrate (LTS) joints have been generated for all topographies showing a fine-grained recrystallized microstructure as well as flow lines in the AA6082 deposits following closely the substrate surface topography, whereas no metallurgical changes in the AISI4140 substrates have been detected. At the LTS interfaces, a correlation of flow lines to an increased occurrence of high angle grain boundaries is identified. Appearance, geometries and grain size ratios of the AA6082 deposits show a dependency on substrate surface topography. Although complete bonding was achieved in the LTS joints, no distinct diffusion zone or interfacial mixing was observed. Mechanical interlocking on the micro scale was detected only for the samples with ground substrate surfaces.

A stainless precipitation hardening steel has been qualified for powder bed fusion of metals using a laser beam. The mechanical and microstructural properties of additively manufactured samples have been thoroughly investigated and compared to samples of the very same material made by means of ingot casting. Additive manufacturing is feasible and can deliver superior mechanical properties. Additionally, the surface quality will be improved by means of wet abrasive jet machining, and its impact on the residual stresses has been shown.

The residual stress state in the subsurface is a key element of surface integrity. It is well known to have a significant impact on a component's properties in terms of fatigue behavior and resistance to wear and corrosion. For this reason, adjusting residual stresses during manufacturing is a major challenge in modern production engineering, to improve and ensure a component's fatigue strength. In this context, hydrostatic deep rolling of the workpiece surface using adapted parameters enables the targeted induction of compressive residual stresses into subsurface layers. Due to specific properties regarding subsurface and topography for functional components in tribological applications, a further machining operation by microfinishing following deep rolling seems to be purposeful. In particular with regard to the production of components exposed to periodic load changes when used, the process combination can enable a substitution of the typically required conventional subsurface zone hardening. With the aim of economical process design, the corresponding parts can be manufactured with significantly reduced time and costs. Efficient and well-founded methods for monitoring the resulting influence on the subsurface zone properties are essential for a reproducible and target-oriented process design. The prevailing method for the non-destructive assessment of residual stresses in both academia and industry is X-ray diffractometry using the sin2 ψ-method. However, this method is time-intensive and requires complex instrumentation. Thus, efforts have been undertaken in past decades to develop alternative methods for the efficient and reliable characterization of residual stresses. In this research, the applicability of the cos α-method in X-ray diffractometry and a micromagnetic approach for residual stress assessment was investigated, analyzing deep rolled and microfinished AISI 4140 specimen conditions. In addition to the diffractometric and micromagnetic measurements, metallographic and topographic analyses of machined surfaces were carried out. Deep rolling was found to induce significant compressive residual stresses of up to −1100 MPa. After microfinishing of the deep rolled surfaces, favorable compressive residual stresses remain in the subsurface, reaching approximately up to −750 MPa. Based on this, the production of tailored surfaces with respect to a suitable combination of topography and subsurface is possible. For all surface states investigated, a good agreement between the two approaches in X-ray diffraction was found. Magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) measurements prove to be well applicable for an efficient and holistic assessment of surface integrity in the subsurface of deep rolled and microfinished AISI 4140 specimens.

Offshore installations, e.g., offshore wind turbines and pipelines, are exposed to various mechanical loads due to wind or waves and corrosive loads such as seawater or mist. ZnAl-based thermal sprayed coatings, often in conjunction with organic coatings, provide sufficient corrosion protection and are well established for applications in marine environments. In this study, machine hammer peening (MHP) is applied after twin wire arc spraying to improve corrosion fatigue behavior through increased hardness, reduced porosity, and roughness compared to as-sprayed coatings. Mn-alloyed structural steel S355 J2 + C with and without ZnAl4 coating as well as with MHP post-treated ZnAl4 coating were cyclically loaded in 3.5% NaCl solution. MHP leads to a uniform coating thickness with lower porosity and roughness. ZnAl4 coating and MHP post-treatment improved corrosion fatigue behavior in the high cycle fatigue regime with an increase of the stress amplitude, applied to reach a number of cycles 1.2 × 106, up to 115% compared to sandblasted specimens. Corrosive attack of the substrate steel was successfully avoided by using the coating systems. Stress- and microstructure-dependent corrosion fatigue damage mechanisms were evaluated by mechanical and electrochemical measurement techniques.

New manufacturing technologies, such as Sheet-Bulk Metal Forming, are facing the challenges of highly stressed tool surfaces which are limiting their service life. For this reason, the load-adapted design of surfaces and the subsurface region as well as the application of wear-resistant coatings for forming dies and molds made of high-speed steel has been subject to many research activities. Existing approaches in the form of grinding and conventional milling processes do not achieve the surface quality desired for the forming operations and therefore often require manual polishing strategies afterward. This might lead to an unfavorable constitution for subsequent PVD coating processes causing delamination effects or poor adhesion of the wear-resistant coatings. To overcome these restrictions, meso- and micromilling are presented as promising approaches to polishing strategies with varying grain sizes. The processed topographies are correlated with the tribological properties determined in an adapted ring compression test using the deep drawing steel DC04. Additionally, the influence of the roughness profile as well as the induced residual stresses in the subsurface region are examined with respect to their influence on the adhesion of a wear-resistant CrAlN PVD coating. The results prove the benefits of micromilling in terms of a reduced friction factor in the load spectrum of Sheet-Bulk Metal Forming as well as an improved coating adhesion in comparison to metallographic finishing strategies, which can be correlated to the processed roughness profile and induced compressive residual stresses in the subsurface region.

The fatigue behavior of components made of quenched and tempered steel alloys is of elementary importance, especially in the automotive industry. To a great extent, the components’ fatigue strength is influenced by the surface integrity properties. For machined components, the generated surface is often exposed to the highest thermomechanical loads, potentially resulting in transformations of the subsurface microstructure and hardness as well as the residual stress state. While the measurement of the mechanical load using dynamometers is well established, in-process temperature measurements are challenging, especially for drilling processes due to the process kinematics and the difficult to access cutting zone. To access the impact of the thermomechanical load during the single-lip drilling process on the produced surface integrity, an in-process measurement was developed and applied for different cutting parameters. By using a two-color pyrometer for temperature measurements at the tool’s cutting edge in combination with a dynamometer for measuring the occurring force and torque, the influence of different cutting parameter variations on the thermomechanical impact on the bore surface are evaluated. By correlating force and temperature values with the resultant surface integrity, a range of process parameters can be determined in which the highest dynamic strength of the samples is expected. Thermally induced defects, such as the formation of white etching layers (WEL), can be avoided by the exact identification of critical parameter combinations whereas a mechanically induced microstructure refinement and the induction of residual compressive stresses in the subsurface zone is targeted. Further, eddy-current analysis as a non-destructive method for surface integrity evaluation is used for the characterization of the surface integrity properties.

Numerical simulation of metal cutting with rigorous experimental validation is a profitable approach that facilitates process optimization and better productivity. In this work, we apply the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Finite Element Method (FEM) to simulate the chip formation process within a thermo-mechanically coupled framework. A series of cutting experiments on two widely-used workpiece materials, i.e., AISI 1045 steel and Ti6Al4V titanium alloy, is conducted for validation purposes. Furthermore, we present a novel technique to measure the rake face temperature without manipulating the chip flow within the experimental framework, which offers a new quality of the experimental validation of thermal loads in orthogonal metal cutting. All material parameters and friction coefficients are identified in-situ, proposing new values for temperature-dependent and velocity-dependent friction coefficients of AISI 1045 and Ti6Al4V under the cutting conditions. Simulation results show that the choice of friction coefficient has a higher impact on SPH forces than FEM. Average errors of force prediction for SPH and FEM were in the range of 33% and 23%, respectively. Except for the rake face temperature of Ti6Al4V, both SPH and FEM provide accurate predictions of thermal loads with 5–20% error.

Magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) shows a high potential for use on computerized numerical control (CNC) machine tools as a standard tool to polish workpieces directly after the milling process. This paper presents a new MAF tool with a single, large permanent magnet and a novel top cover structure for finishing the plain ferromagnetic workpieces. The top cover structure of the MAF tool, combined with an optimized working gap, ensures the effect of mechanical powder compaction, which leads to a significant increase in process capability and surface roughness reduction. The influence of the process parameters such as feed rate, equivalent cutting speed, working gap (including for three grain sizes) and the gap to the magnet was investigated. In addition, the influence of the initial surface after face milling, end milling, ball end milling and grinding on the surface quality after MAF was investigated. Furthermore, three typical surfaces after milling and MAF were analyzed. By magnetic abrasive finishing, a significant surface quality improvement of the initial milled surfaces to roughness values up to Ra = 0.02 µm and Rz = 0.12 µm in one processing step could be achieved.

Structural elements of offshore facilities, e.g., offshore wind turbines, are subject to static and dynamic mechanical and environmental loads, for example, from wind, waves, and corrosive media. Protective coatings such as thermal sprayed ZnAl coatings are often used for protection, mainly against corrosive stresses. The Machine Hammer Peening (MHP) process is an innovative and promising technique for the post-treatment of ZnAl coating systems that helps reducing roughness and porosity and inducing compressive residual stresses. This should lead to an enhancement of the corrosion fatigue behavior. In this paper, the effect of a thermally assisted MHP process was investigated. The softening of the coating materials will have a direct effect on the densification, residual porosity and the distribution of cracks. The investigation results showed the influence of thermally assisted MHP on the surface properties, porosity, residual stresses, and hardness of the post-treated coatings. The best densification of the coating, i.e., the lowest porosity and roughness and the highest compressive residual stresses, were achieved at a process temperature of 300 °C. A further increase in temperature on the other hand caused a higher porosity and, in some cases, locally restricted melting of the coating and consequently poorer coating properties.

The machining of free-formed surfaces, e.g., dies or moulds, is often affected by tool vibrations, which can affect the quality of the workpiece surface. Furthermore, in 5-axis milling, the dynamic properties of the system consisting of the tool, spindle and machine tool can vary depending on the tool pose. In this paper, a simulation-based methodology for optimising the tool orientation, i.e., tilt and lead angle of simultaneous 5-axis milling processes, is presented. For this purpose, a path finding algorithm was used to identify process configurations, that minimise tool vibrations based on pre-calculated simulation results, which were organised using graph theory. In addition, the acceleration behaviour of the feed drives, which limits the ability of adjusting the tool orientation with a high adaption frequency, as well as potential collisions of the tool, tool chuck and spindle with the workpiece were considered during the optimisation procedure.

The increasing demand for high-performance components is leading to a greater use of advanced alloys such as DA718, which is, e.g., used in engine parts due to its high-temperature strength. The strict quality requirements pose major challenges for the machining of engine components for aircrafts. Quality deviations along the value chain can lead to high costs due to rework and, in the worst case, rejections in order to prevent material failure within a safety-critical environment. These deviations include, e.g., an increased surface roughness, deviations in the shape tolerances as well as increased internal stresses or surface deformations. Material defects are an additional reason to reject the manufactured components. These are usually inspected only at the end of the value chain and—due to measurement limitations—only if they occur close to the surface of the workpiece. Ultrasonic testing is used in order to detect defects near the surface of the raw part. For the evaluation of the finished part, etching and optical inspection of the surface is used. However, defects inside the components cannot be detected in this way. If material defects are located in areas subjected to intense load changes and high temperatures, the components have to be rejected since engine parts require a high level of fatigue strength. Such rejects constitute a significant economic risk, as a large part of the added value has already been completed and a significant amount of machine time has been invested. Thus, an identification of material defects in an earlier stage of the manufacturing process is required. In this paper, fundamental investigations on machining artificially generated material defects in a micro-milling process and the signal analysis during the pre-turning of turbine disks made of nickel-based materials like DA718 will be presented. Based on force measurements, characteristic signals were identified that could indicate material defects during the turning process.

Internal traverse grinding (ITG) using electroplated cBN tools in high-speed grinding conditions is a highly efficient manufacturing process for bore machining in a single axial stroke. However, process control is difficult. Due to the axial direction of feed, changes in process normal force and thus radial deflection of the tool and workpiece spindle system, lead to deviations in the workpiece contour along the length of the bore, especially at tool exit. Simulations including this effect could provide a tool to design processes which enhance shape accuracy of components. A geometrical physically-based simulation is herein developed to model the influence of system compliance on the resulting workpiece contour. Realistic tool topographies, obtained from measurements, are combined with an FE-calibrated surrogate model for process forces and with an empirical compliance model. In quasistatic experimental investigations, the spindle deflection is determined in relation to the acting normal forces by using piezoelectric force measuring elements and eddy current sensors. In grinding tests with in-process force measurement technology and followed by measurement of the resulting workpiece contours, the simulation system is validated. The process forces and the resulting characteristic shape deviations are predicted in good qualitative accordance with the experimental results.

Nickel-base alloys are proven materials in the fields of the aerospace and oil industry, which is due to their characteristic material properties of high temperature strength, high toughness and good oxidation resistance. These properties are beneficial to applications in technical components in general. However, they also represent challenges for machining. Especially while drilling Inconel 718, high temperatures occur in the chip-formation zone that implicate high thermal load in the material and thus, influence the surface integrity, for example, by causing white layers. Hence, the development of strategies to improve the ability to supply cutting edges with cooling lubricant is becoming increasingly important. In this context, an alternative process design, the discontinuous drilling, takes place, characterized by a periodic interruption of feed motion and thus, chip formation. A minor retraction movement from the contact zone enables the cooling lubricant to reach the cutting edges and to reduce their thermal load. In comparison to the conventional process of drilling Inconel 718, the effects of discontinuous drilling with varying numbers of interruptions on the resulting surface integrity and further parameters of drilling qualities are analyzed. Thereby, the prevention of process-related phase transformations due to thermal impact was discovered when a discontinuous drilling strategy was implemented.

One of the major advantages of micromachining is the high achievable surface quality at highly flexible capabilities in terms of the machining of workpieces with complex geometric properties. Unfortunately, finishing operations often result in extensive process times due to the dependency of the resulting surface topography on the cutting parameter, e.g., the feed per tooth, fz. To overcome this dependency, special tool shapes, called wipers, have proven themselves in the field of turning. This paper presents the transfer of such tool shapes to solid carbide milling tools for micromachining. In this context, a material removal simulation (MRS) was used to investigate promising wiper geometries for micro end mills (d = 1 mm). Through experimental validation of the results, the surface topography, the resulting process forces, and tendencies in the residual stress state were investigated, machining the hot work tool steel (AISI H11). The surface-related results show a high agreement and thus the potential of MRS for tool development. Deviations from the experimental data for large wipers could be attributed to the non-modeled tool deflections, friction, and plastic deformations. Furthermore, a slight geometry-dependent increase in cutting forces and compressive stresses were observed, while a significant reduction in roughness up to 84% and favorable topography conditions were achieved by adjusting wipers and cutting parameters.

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Milling processes are often limited by self-excited vibrations of the tool or workpiece, generated by the regenerative effect, especially when using long cantilevered tools or machining thin-walled workpieces. The regenerative effect arises from a periodic modulation of the uncut chip thickness within the frequencies of the eigenmodes, which results in a critical excitation in the consecutive cuts or tooth engagements. This paper presents a new approach for disturbing the regenerative effect by using milling tools which are modified with asymmetric dynamic properties. A four-fluted milling tool was modified with parallel slots in the tool shank in order to establish asymmetric dynamic characteristics or different eigenfrequencies for consecutive tooth engagements, respectively. Measurements of the frequency response functions at the tool tip showed a decrease in the eigenfrequencies as well as an increase in the dynamic compliance in the direction of the grooves. Milling experiments with a constant width of cut and constantly increasing axial depth of cut indicated a significant increase in the stability limit for the specific preparations of up to 69%.

The increasing demand for complex and wear-resistant forming tools made of difficult-to-machine materials requires efficient manufacturing processes. In terms of high-strength materials; highly suitable processes such as micromilling are limited in their potential due to the increased tool loads and the resulting tool wear. This promotes hybrid manufacturing processes that offer approaches to increase the performance. In this paper; conduction-based thermally assisted micromilling using a prototype device to homogeneously heat the entire workpiece is investigated. By varying the workpiece temperature by 20 °C < TW < 500 °C; a highly durable high-speed steel (HSS) AISI M3:2 (63 HRC) and a hot-work steel (HWS) AISI H11 (53 HRC) were machined using PVD-TiAlN coated micro-end milling tools (d = 1 mm). The influence of the workpiece temperature on central process conditions; such as tool wear and achievable surface quality; are determined. As expected; the temporary thermal softening of the materials leads to a reduction in the cutting forces and; thus; in the resulting tool wear for specific configurations of the thermal assistance. While only minor effects are detected regarding the surface topography; a significant reduction in the burr height is achieved.

Producing complex sheet metal components in fewer process steps motivated the development of the innovative forming process called sheet-bulk metal forming (SBMF). In this process, sheet metal forming and bulk-metal forming are combined to create a unique forming process in which a component with external and internal gearing is produced in three production steps. However, the high degrees of deformation that occur using high-strength steels and the number of different process steps result in high process forces, strongly limiting the service life of tools. To reduce the forming force during SBMF processes, tool and process modifications were investigated. Therefore, plane-strain compression tests were conducted to examine the influence of a CrAlN PVD coating and tailored surfaces produced by high-feed milling (HF) of tool-active elements on the material flow of the specimens. In addition to the tool-sided modifications, the influence of an oscillation overlay during the forming process was investigated. Based on the results of the compression tests, the surfaces of the active tool elements of the SBMF process were modified in order to transfer the basic experimental results to the production of a functional component. The friction is thus adapted locally in the SBMF process.

In injection molding, the reduction of ejection forces is a process relevant aspect to improve the production rates. For this purpose, CrN and CrAlN films were sputtered on cylindrical and quadratic AISI H11 cores of an injection mold in order to investigate their influence on the resulting ejection forces to demold polypropylene test components. Within this context, the ejection forces of the PVD coated cores were compared to those of uncoated cores made of AISI H11. For both the cylindrical and quadratic cores, the as-deposited CrN and CrAlN films exhibit higher ejection forces than the uncoated cores due to the increase of the roughness profile after sputtering. It is known that the ejection forces are directly related to the surface roughness. In order to ensure comparable surface conditions to the uncoated surfaces, and to demonstrate the potential of PVD coated mold surfaces when reducing the ejection forces, the coated surfaces were mechanically post-treated to obtain a similar roughness profile as the uncoated cores. The combination of a PVD deposition and post-treatment ensures a significant reduction of the ejection forces by 22.6% and 23.7% for both core geometries.

Roughening the substrate surface is essential for thermal sprayed coatings. In this regard, sandblasting has established itself as an easy to use surface conditioning procedure. The quality of the obtained roughness depends on the conditions of the sandblasting material, adjusted parameters, and the kind of the process execution (manual or mechanical). These preconditions limit the reproducibility of the roughness obtained. Sandblasting causes residual compressive stress and may also lead to the inclusion of sand particles and notches in the roughened surface, which affects the interfacial properties of the coating, as well as the flexural strength of the coated parts. The hardness of the roughened surface plays, thereby, an important role. However, in order to reliably avoid these effects, microfinishing can be used as an alternative to generate a homogenous roughened substrate surface, control the induced residual stresses, and increase the reproducibility. In addition, the roughened surface pattern can be produced during the chip forming process of the to-be-coated parts. The utilization of the appropriate combination of machining processes and parameters should lead to the required surface pattern and thus to an enhanced coating adhesion and flexural strength of the coated part. The induced residual stresses and the quality of the obtained surface roughness have a significant influence on the coating adhesion and the lifespan of the coated parts. This paper aims to analyze, as a first step, the effect of the turning and microfinishing on the surface conditioning of the bearing steel 100Cr6 (AISI 52100). The investigation concludes by comparing the microfinished with the sandblasted surfaces with regard to the interface to and the adhesion of the WC−Co high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) sprayed coatings on them. Surface conditioning plays a decisive role by the induced residual stresses and the elimination of adhesion defects.

The high quality demand for machined functional surfaces of forming tools, entail extensive investigations for the adjustment of the manufacturing process. Since the surface quality depends on a multitude of influencing factors in face micromilling, a complex optimization problem arises. Through analytical and simulative approaches, the scope of the experimental investigation to meet the requirements for surface roughness can be significantly reduced. In this contribution, both analytical and simulation-based approaches are presented in the context of predicting the roughness of a machined surface. The consideration of actual tool geometry and shape deviations are used in a simulation system to achieve the agreement with experimental results.

In many technical fields, high-strength steels like AISI 4140 are commonly used for highly dynamically loaded parts. Increasing demands on weight, performance and efficiency of the automotive industry lead to increasing demands on material properties. For surface conditioning, optimised machining processes are capable of improving the fatigue performance without increasing the production cost significantly. This paper compares the influence of three different sulphur contents and three different feed rates on the fatigue behaviour of deep hole drilled AISI 4140 fatigue specimens. The specimens were characterised regarding their surface condition, hardness and microstructure, and afterwards they were tested under fatigue loading for performance assessment. These tests were accompanied with Barkhausen noise analysis. The Barkhausen noise signal was detected by a custom-built sensor that is capable of detecting the magnetic values on the bore wall. Using this technique, a load-independent estimation of fatigue damage was established.

In a production of filigree and complex geometries, different NC-controlled processes such as laser cutting, EDM milling, and micromachining require a constant feed rate to ensure high-quality manufacturing results. Due to the technically limited acceleration ability of the machine tool axes, the nominal feed cannot always be achieved. This in particular is the case when the machine tool has to perform a significant change of direction in corners. In this paper, the impact of too low feed rates on the process of precise micromilling of a hardened high-speed steel AISI (M3:2) 63 ± 1 HRC) is discussed. An unattained feed rate leads to a ploughing dominated process with a high burr formation resulting in a huge potential loss of micromilling processes. Furthermore, a simulation approach is presented which allows the prediction of the actually achieved feed rate. The developed machine model provides a reliable method to identify critical areas in the entire NC program.

Microfinishing, also known as superfinishing or short-stroke honing, is a commonly used process for generating technical surfaces focusing on tribological applications. Due to microfinishing processes high surface qualities are manufacturable regarding the surface roughness and bearing area ratio. While the required characteristics for tribological loaded workpieces are changing with their rising significance, the surface structuring is becoming more and more important. With the use of defined abrasive belts, the possibilities of surface structuring by microfinishing are enhanced. The possibilities and challenges concerning surface structuring by microfinishing applying defined abrasive belts are described in this research study. Therefore, a geometrical-kinematic simulation is used to predict the theoretical structures generated by microfinishing, while in experimental investigations the influences of kinematic parameters and a multi-stage process sequence are considered.