Surface generation modelling and form maintenance strategy in maskless fluid jet polishing of structured array surface

Structured array surfaces are extensively utilized in the fields of functional optical components and molds. However, high surface form accuracy of these surfaces is usually needed to implement superior performance, leading to great challenges in manufacturing. In this study, fluid jet polishing (FJP) was utilized to polish the cylindrical array surface. The effect of abrasive size and jet pressure on the form maintainability was elucidated by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The abrasive trajectory and abrasive impact information were analyzed to reveal the material removal process. Tool influence functions (TIF) at different positions were simulated to model the surface generation process and provide a theoretical basis for the optimization of polishing parameters. A surface form maintenance strategy was proposed to achieve high form accuracy together with excellent surface quality by controlling the feed rate of the nozzle. A series of experiments were conducted to validate the effectiveness of the form maintenance strategy. The results revealed that the form error agreed well with the requirement after polishing with the designed feed rate. This study paves a new way for the polishing of structured array surfaces with a good surface form control.