Dwell time algorithm based on the optimization theory for magnetorheological finishing

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is an advanced polishing technique capable of rapidly converging to the required surface figure. This process can deterministically control the amount of the material removed by varying a time to dwell at each particular position on the workpiece surface. The dwell time algorithm is one of the most important key techniques of the MRF. A dwell time algorithm based on the1 matrix equation and optimization theory was presented in this paper. The conventional mathematical model of the dwell time was transferred to a matrix equation containing initial surface error, removal function and dwell time function. The dwell time to be calculated was just the solution to the large, sparse matrix equation. A new mathematical model of the dwell time based on the optimization theory was established, which aims to minimize the 2-norm or ∞-norm of the residual surface error. The solution meets almost all the requirements of precise computer numerical control (CNC) without any need for extra data processing, because this optimization model has taken some polishing condition as the constraints. Practical approaches to finding a minimal least-squares solution and a minimal maximum solution are also discussed in this paper. Simulations have shown that the proposed algorithm is numerically robust and reliable. With this algorithm an experiment has been performed on the MRF machine developed by ourselves. After 4.7 minutes' polishing, the figure error of a flat workpiece with a 50 mm diameter is improved by PV from 0.191λ(λ = 632.8 nm) to 0.087λ and RMS 0.041λ to 0.010λ. This algorithm can be constructed to polish workpieces of all shapes including flats, spheres, aspheres, and prisms, and it is capable of improving the polishing figures dramatically.