Abstract
In response to the ever-increasing demand for surface precision in high-end optical components, bonnet polishing using an inflated flexible tool has been developed. Bonnet polishing is able to match the curvature of the optical component, allowing it to improve the surface precision of components. Therefore, bonnet polishing has gradually become the primary processing method for high-precision polishing. In this study, annular and radial grooves were added to the polishing pad of the conventional bonnet. It was anticipated that the addition of grooves could improve the flow rate and distribution uniformity of the polishing slurry, thereby enhancing the surface precision of the lenses after polishing. It was found that the designs of annular and radial grooves each exhibited their respective advantages in two measurement indicators. First, it was found that the radial groove design reduced the peak-to-valley (PV) value by 31.66%, showing significant improvement compared to the other two designs. On the other hand, the annular groove design reduced the surface roughness (Ra) value by 28.57%, which was the best among the three designs. The practical polishing results successfully verified that the groove design on the polishing pad could indeed be applied to bonnet polishing to achieve higher processing efficiency