A Major Advancement in the Efficient Machining of Optical Surfaces on Hardened Steels

摘要

A new machine tool, Tetraform 'C', permits the finishing of both brittle materials and hard metallic surfaces to optical quality at relatively high material removal rates. The research, on Tetraform 'C' discussed here has resulted in the best ever reported surface finish on directly ground hard steels produced at stock removal rates typically one order of magnitude higher than previously published. This work has enabled both the grinding process to be studied and the performance of the new machine tool to be evaluated.