Fluid jet polishing: removal process analysis

This paper reports on a new finishing process, Fluid Jet Polishing (FJP), that resembles the kinetic process employed in ASJ systems in that it is guiding a pre-mixed slurry to the surface, but within FJP low pressures are applied. Since FJP employs a fluid for machining, no tool wear occurs and the tool is cooling and removing debris in process. Using slurry that contained water with grinding abrasives, the FJP finishing process has been demonstrated. On flat glass samples, the surface roughness of a previously ground surface has been reduced from 475 nm rms to 5 nm rms and a prepolished surface has been shaped without increasing its roughness of 1.6 nm rms. Experiments are described showing that the final surface roughness depends on slurry characteristics and that the material removal spot can be adjusted by varying process parameters, e.g. the angle of the incident ray.