A study of the effects of polishing parameters on material removal rate and non-uniformity

In this paper, experiments are conducted to reveal the effects of polishing parameters such as rotational speed, applied pressure, locations of nozzle s for slurry, and flow rate of flurry on surface characteristics when polis hing an aluminum based rigid disk. A double-sided polishing machine is used in these experiments and an inner pin ring is held still during the proces s, so that the removal rates of disks at different locations are different. It was shown that the removal rate for outer disks is less than that for i nner disks. This phenomenon is in contrast to that predicted using the popu lar Preston equation. Although it was shown that the removal rate increases as the relative velocity or the applied pressure increases, it is not prop ortional to either the applied pressure or the relative speed as described by the Preston equation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved .