Improved CNC ball-end magnetorheological finishing process for borosilicate glass polishing

ABSTRACTThis research aims to present an improved design of the Ball-End Magnetorheological Finishing (BEMRF) tool with the capability of being mounted on a CNC milling machine for polishing borosilicate glass (Bk7) lenses. Subsequently, the new BEMRF tool was designed, researched, and adjusted with magnetostatic simulation in Ansys Maxwell software. A response surface method experimental investigation was conducted to discover the optimized constitution of the magnetorheological fluid's abrasive and carbonyl iron particles used for finishing operation on flat Bk7 glass. The simulation results and afterward measurements with a Gauss meter showed that changes in the BEMRF tool improved the variation in the density of magnetic flux in the polishing gap. At the optimum fluid constituents of 16 vol% abrasives and 29 vol% carbonyl iron particles, a 59% improvement in surface roughness was achieved. The proposed CNC tool found an appropriate way to finish Bk7 glass.KEYWORDS: Surface roughnessmagnetorheological finishingball-end MRFBEMRFMR fluid Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.