Vibratory finishing processes are finding extensive use in multiple industries because of their ability to be able to provide a high level of surface finish. Despite their extensive applications, it is difficult to be able to develop predictive mechanism for the process, given its sensitivity to a wide range of parameters. Simultaneously, traditional computational fluid dynamics–based attempts are limited by their mesh-based Eulerian approaches from being able to simulate problems that are more complicated. Previous computational models have had limited success in correlating the roughness parameters with the predicted values. This paper extends previous research to develop a smoothed particle hydrodynamics–based Lagrangian approach to simulate key metrics of the vibratory finishing process, which can then be used to predict the surface roughness. These models were validated against experimental results from prior research as well as a new finite volume method–based model and were found to be able to provide a better model for the material removal process than previously proposed models. Finally, this research explores the effect of the various parameters on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics formulation and validates its use for simulating granular media flows. © 2020, Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature.