Material removal mode affected by the particle size in fluid jet polishing

As a newly developed ultrasmooth polishing technique, fluid jet polishing (FJP) has been widely used for optical glass polishing. The size of the particle in the polishing slurry has a great influence on the material removal rate and quality of the processed surface. The material removal mode affected by the particle size is investigated in detail. Particle trajectories with different size are calculated by numerical simulations in the FJP process. Simulation results demonstrate that the particle with large size will seriously deviate from the fluid streamline and almost impact on the workpiece along a straight line in the initial incident direction. The larger is the particle size, the more deviation will occur. Impact models are established based on different particle trajectories. A polishing experiment was conducted to verify the feasibility of the mode. Experiment results show that the particle size has a great influence on the material removal mode in FJP with the same process parameters. Material is removed in the plastic mode with higher removal rate and worse surface roughness for a larger-sized particle, while the material removal occurring in the elastic mode has a much lower removal rate and smoother surface for the smaller-sized particle. Material is removed by chemical impact reaction between the particle and the surface within the elastic mode, and a smooth surface with no damage is obtained after the FJP process.