Influence of Polishing and Pressing Force on the Material Removal Rate in Fixed Abrasive Polishing with Compact Robot

To help reduce the environmental impact of abrasive polishing, we have investigated the use of a compact robot and fixed-abrasive polishing. We used a five-joint closed-link compact robot with a fine diamond stone on its main axis to polish the glass plate and measured the polishing pressure(=pressing force/stone constant area), the polishing force, and the material removal rate. From these results, we investigated the relationship between the polishing pressure and the polishing force and between the polishing pressure and the material removal rate. We found that there is an interesting relationship between the polishing pressure and polishing force, which is not simply proportional but exponential, that the friction coefficient(=polishing force/pressing force) increases as the polishing pressure increases, and that by focusing on the friction coefficient, we can estimate the material removal rate.