Geometrical shape improvement of steel moulds by robot polishing process for polymer optic replication. Issue 1 (1st January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Almeida, Rui; Börret, Rainer; Pohl, Mario; Harrison, David K.; De Silva, Anjali K. M.
• Is Part Of: Production & manufacturing research. Volume 6:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 247
• Page End: 263
• Publication Date: 2018-01-01
• Subjects: Steel mould polishing -- material removal control -- material removal simulation -- surface correction; Manufacturing processes -- Periodicals; Production engineering -- Research -- Periodicals; Manufacturing processes; Production engineering -- Research; Periodicals; 670
• DOI: 10.1080/21693277.2018.1509743
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-3277

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The quality of injection-moulded polymer optic parts depends on the surface finish of the respective mould. In order to improve the surface finish of the mould, it is important to use a tactical material removal, which allows a controlled correction of the mould's surface geometry. The aim of this work is to use a polishing correction technique to improve and correct the flatness of hardened steel samples in order to reduce the need for manual polishing. A polishing tool function is simulated from the contact between the tool and the hardened steel sample and used to determine the material removal rate per time. A feed profile is calculated, which allows the industrial robot to tactically control the material removal. It is observed that a correction improves the surface's flatness by up to 70%.