Compliant polishing of thin-walled freeform workpiece

Compliant polishing using elastic tools can achieve ultraprecision surface quality on freeform workpieces. However, when it comes to thin-walled parts, the challenge arises with the complex polishing mechanics between the tool and freeform surface, without the knowledge of which the surface form can be easily degraded. To address this, an analytical model is established that can predict the interaction mechanics during polishing. On this basis, two adaptive strategies are proposed. Experiments with controllable material removal verify the high accuracy of the model, and compliant polishing of a thin-walled freeform workpiece with highly precise removal consistency below 0.5 µm was achieved.