Rapid fabrication of a lightweight 2 m reaction-bonded SiC aspherical mirror

Abstract

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) fabrication can effectively facilitate a rapid fabrication of an aspherical 2 m reaction-bonded silicon carbide mirror. The dwell-time algorithm and tool path supported tool-mark mitigation and virtual-axis employment are analyzed. A rapid-fabrication strategy alternates MRF and a large polishing lap to converge surface error profile before MRF alone is used to high-precise finishing. In the alternate-use process, large polishing lap’s dwell time map for low-order space frequency is calculated before MRF’s for high-order one, but executed later in reality. The fabricated mirror with a silicon modification layer showed accuracy convergence from 0.098 λ rms to 0.019 λ rms at 84.6 h, demonstrating the strategy’s validity for large optical-surface processing. Keywords: Computer controlled polishing, Silicon carbide mirror, Surface error, Magnetorheological finishing, Large polishing lap