Adaptive tool servo diamond turning for enhancing machining efficiency and surface quality of freeform optics

Fast tool servo/slow tool servo (FTS/STS) diamond turning is a very promising technique for the generation of freeform optics. However, the currently adopted constant scheme for azimuth sampling and side-feeding motion possesses no adaptation to surface shape variation, leading to the non-uniform surface quality and low machining efficiency. To overcome this defect, this paper reports on a novel adaptive tool servo (ATS) diamond turning technique which is essentially based on the novel two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) FTS/STS. In the ATS, the sampling interval and the side-feeding motion are actively controlled at any cutting point to adapt the machining process to shape variation of the desired surface, making both the sampling induced interpolation error and the side-feeding induced residual tool mark be within the desired tolerances. Characteristic of the required cutting motion suggests that besides the conventional z-axis servo motion, another servo motion along the x-axis synthesizing by the c-axis is mandatory for implementing the ATS. Comparative studies of surface generation of typical micro-structured surfaces in FTS/STS and ATS are thoroughly conducted both theoretically and experimentally. The result demonstrates that the ATS outperforms the FTS/STS with improved surface quality while simultaneously enhanced machining efficiency. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America