Study on removal characteristic of silicon carbide surface in precision mechanical polishing

Precision mechanical polishing was one of the primary techniques for the fabrication of optical components with both high-precision and high-quality surfaces. However, few studies have been reported on the removal rate characteristics of silicon carbides(SiC) in high finish quality polishing processes. SiC was an important ceramic material for many critical industrial and aerospace applications. A theoretical investigation and a series of polishing experiments in computer controlled precision polishing process were presented. And a better understanding of removal mechanisms of SiC surfaces was also proposed for optimizing surface quality. Head speed, tool pressure, tool offset and polishing angle were selected to analyze the surface removal tendency. The Taguchi method was used as an efficient method to optimize the polishing conditions and reduce excessive experimental requiring. Moreover, the results imply the polishing parameters combinations required to achieve the desired surface finish and better application of removal characteristic.