Research on the influence of the non-stationary effect of the magnetorheological finishing removal function on mid-frequency errors of optical component surfaces.

With the continuous development of modern optical systems, the demand for full spatial frequency errors of optical components in the system is increasing. Although computer-controlled sub-aperture polishing technology can quickly correct low-frequency errors, this technology significantly worsens the mid-frequency errors on the surface of the component, which greatly inhibits the improvement of optical system performance. Therefore, we conducted in-depth research on the non-stationary effect of the removal function caused by the fluctuation in magnetorheological polishing and their influence on the mid-frequency errors of the component surface. We established a non-stationary profile model of the removal function and applied this model to simulate the distribution of mid-frequency errors on the surface of the processed component, considering the non-stationary effect. The simulation results showed that the non-stationary effect of the removal function weaken the mid-frequency ripple errors but increase other mid-frequency errors. Therefore, we first proposed the optimal single-material removal thickness corresponding to the non-stationary effect and experimentally verified the effectiveness of the optimal material removal thickness in suppressing mid-frequency errors. The experimental results showed that when the magnetorheological finishing single-material removal thickness is set to the optimal value, both the mid-frequency ripple errors and the mid-frequency RMS on the surface significantly decrease. Therefore, this work provides a basis for improving the existing magnetorheological finishing process and effectively suppressing the mid-frequency errors on the surface of processed components. It also provides theoretical and technical support for the magnetorheological processing and manufacturing of high-precision optical components. At the same time, the non-stationary effect and the corresponding analytical models has the potential to be extended to other polishing tools.