Electro-rheological finishing for optical surfaces

Many polishing techniques such as fixed-abrasive polishing, abrasive-free polishing and magnetorheological finishing etc., have been developed. Meanwhile, a new technique is proposed using the mixture of the electro-rheological (Er) fluid with abrasives as polishing slurry, which is a special process does not require pad. Electrorheological fluid is a special suspension liquid, whose viscosity has an approximate proportional relation with the electric strength applied.When the field strength reaches a certain limit, the phase transition occurs and the liquid acquires a solid like character, and while the electric field is removed, the fluid regains its original viscosity during the order of milliseconds. In this research work, we employed the characteristics of viscosity change of Er fluid to hold the polishing particles for micromachining.A point-contact electro-rheological finishing (Erf) tool was designed with a tip diameter 0.5∼1mm. Both the anode and the cathode of the electric field were combined in the tool. The electric field could be controllable. When the tool moves across the profile of the work piece, by controlling the electric field strength as well as the other manufacturing parameters we can assure the deterministic material removal. Furthermore, the electro-rheological finishing process has been planned in detailed.