Configuration design and accuracy analysis of a novel magnetorheological finishing machine tool for concave surfaces with small radius of curvature

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a computer-controlled deterministic polishing technique that is widely used in the production of high-quality optics. In order to overcome the defects of existing MRF processes that are unable to achieve concave surfaces with small radius of curvature, a configuration method of a novel structured MRF machine tool using small ball-end permanent-magnet polishing head is proposed in this paper. The preliminary design focuses on the structural configuration of the machine, which includes the machine body, motion units and accessory equipment, and so on. Structural deformation and fabrication accuracy of the machine are analyzed theoretically, in which the reasonable structure sizes, manufacturing errors and assembly errors of main structural components are given for configuration optimization. Based on the theoretical analysis, a four-axes linkage MRF machine tool is developed. Preliminary experiments of spot polishing are carried out and the results indicate that the proposed MRF process can achieve stable polishing area which meets requirement of deterministic polishing. A typical small-bore complex component is polished on the developed device and fine surface quality is obtained with sphericity of the finished spherical surfaces 1.3 µm and surface roughness Ra less than 0.018 µm.