Surface roughness and material removal in fluid jet polishing

Based on experiments, the dependence of material removal and surface roughness on the characteristics of abrasive particles, on the workpiece, and on other process parameters such as working pressure and incidence angle in fluid jet polishing (FJP) technology were investigated. Experimental results show a volume removal rate that is approximately proportional to the square root of the Young's modulus (E) and inversely proportional to the square of the Knoop hardness (Hk) of glass. Similarly, surface roughness is also determined in FJP by elastic stiffness E and plastic parameter Hk. The influence of the incidence angle on surface roughness and material removal were studied, and a linear dependence of material removal on the working pressure was obtained. Further, it was found that an optical-quality surface can be achieved by use of Cerox 1650 abrasive particles in FJP and can satisfy the requirements of modern optical manufacturing.