Research on Polishing Aluminum Alloy Optical Elements with a New Solid Flexible Bonnet Tool

As a common optical element material, aluminum alloy has been widely used because of its high reflectivity, easy lightweight design and other advantages. However, due to the soft texture and large plasticity of aluminum alloy, the surface is prone to mechanical damage during processing. In order to improve the surface quality and processing efficiency, this paper designs a new type of solid flexible bonnet tool to polish aluminum alloy optical elements. Then the finite element analysis method is used to compare the performance of several bonnet tools. Finally, the aluminum alloy polishing experiment is carried out, and the material removal mechanism and the factors affecting the polishing surface quality are analysed. The results show that the new solid flexible bonnet tool has good deformation stability, good fit with the workpiece, and can achieve high efficiency and precision polishing of aluminum alloy optical elements. According to the pressure distribution in the contact area, the abrasive particles in the sliding state are divided into three removal modes: micro-cutting, micro-plowing and micro-rubbing. At the same time, the hard particles in aluminum alloy have an important influence on the surface morphology after polishing. Due to the strong plasticity and viscosity of aluminum alloy, the abrasive dust is easy to adhere to the surface of the workpiece, reducing the surface roughness.