Progress in the study of electrorheological polishing: A review

Electrorheological polishing (ERP) is an important field-assisted polishing method, which can reduce abrasive loss and improve machining efficiency by using the electric field-induced electrorheological (ER) effect to help the abrasive to overcome the centrifugal force caused by high rotating speed during polishing. ERP has many advantages, including high efficiency, high precision, facile polishing for a small object, and a good application prospect in polishing optical devices and hard molds. This review describes the research progress in ERP in the past two decades. The mechanism of electrorheological polishing is analyzed from two aspects of electrorheological effect and dielectrophoresis. According to the time sequence of electrorheological polishing development, two kinds of ERP materials including the simple mixing system and composite particle system are introduced. ERP electrodes including off-axis bipolar electrode, needle-ring electrode, needle-like single electrode, one-sided patterned electrode, and one-sided simple composite electrode are described. From the two characterization quantities of removal rate and surface quality, the industrial factors affecting the ERP effect are discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of ERP and other polishing processes are compared. Finally, the remaining challenges and possible development trends in ERP technology for the future outlook are proposed.