Simulation and Verification of Fluid Jet Polishing

Fluid jet polishing (FJP) is a new advanced polishing technology that finds applications in many industries, especially in the optics industry. With the broad application of various surfaces in optics, the sub-micrometric scale and the nanometric surface roughness accuracy are major challenges. Fluid jet polishing is a technology developed from abrasive water jet machining. This technology is a water jet cutting technology, which uses high-pressure flow to cut/remove materials. In this thesis, the working principle, and simulations, as well as verification of fluid jet polishing are thoroughly investigated. The verification of fluid jet polishing in this thesis includes velocity distribution and material removal derivations. The amount of material removed is directly related to the impact velocity of a particle with a surface, which helps define its abrasive particle velocity. During polishing, the particles travel in a solution called slurry. Due to the relatively similar velocity of the particles and the slurry, the particles and the slurry are assumed to be traveling at the same rate. In this thesis, three specific examples are investigated through the creation of an advanced model using FLUENT, a computational fluid dynamics software. The model simulates the particle path during the fluid jet polishing process, and this thesis compares the simulation results to prior analytical and experimental results. The results indicate that the fluid jet polishing erosion area at a particular location is axisymmetric when the 2D cross-section shape is investigated. As the impingement angle of the fluid jet is reduced, the center dead area, where no polishing is observed, approaches zero. vii Additionally, the horizontal component of the velocity vector initially increases then decreases as one moves away from the center stagnation point. Finally, this thesis demonstrates that the erosion depth into the surface that is polished increases when the working pressure of the fluid is increased. This thesis finds that when the distance between the fluid jet and the workpiece is 7 mm, material removal is maximum