Reciprocating magnetorheological polishing method for borosilicate glass surface smoothness

Abstract A new reciprocating magnetorheological (MR) method for polishing a flat borosilicate glass surface is proposed. A reciprocating MR polishing tester was designed to polish borosilicate glass, in which supplying MR polishing fluid uniformly could yield a flatter surface on the workpiece. The MR polishing fluid was prepared according to specific test requirements and the rheological properties and precipitation rate were measured. The mechanism for polishing borosilicate glass was evaluated further by analyzing the surface morphology and surface profile. The transparency of the glass surface was enhanced with an improvement of surface quality with pre-processing and reciprocating MR polishing process. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the reciprocating MR polishing method, which could be used for polishing borosilicate glass.