Factor Effect on Material Removal Rate During Phosphate Laser Glass Polishing

In this work, the effects of different process parameters on the material removal rate (MRR) of phosphate laser glass during ring polishing had been investigated. Experiments were performed on a ring polishing machine that had a pad diameter of 4.4 m, and the MRR was obtained by the measurements of depth reduction of a groove on phosphate glass sample. The experimental results and analyses showed that size of the abrasive particles and the ceria concentration had significant effects on the polishing rate. The MRR of glass being polished on the annular-grooved pad was almost three times as when polished on the square-grooved pad. When the pad was periodically cleaned with water and glass was polished with fresh slurry, the value of MRR tended to be constant. Based on the experimental results, a combined process was designed to optimize MRR. The results of this study provided the essential foundation for obtaining the required MRR and optimizing the fabrication technique.