Investigation of Force-Controlled Polishing of Complex Curved PMMA Parts on a Machining Center

During the polishing process of complex curved PMMA parts, the polishing force is an important factor affecting the surface quality and optical performance. In this paper, a force-controlled polishing device integrated into a machining center to maintain the polishing force is investigated. In order to achieve the real-time active control of the polishing force, the linear voice coil motor and force sensors are used for motion and measurement. A compact structure was designed to couple the linear motion of the voice coil motor with the rotation for polishing. The force-controlled polishing system with a high real-time hardware architecture was developed to perform complex curved polishing path movement with precise force control. Next, the polishing force between the device and the workpiece was analyzed to obtain the mathematical model of the device. Considering the impact during the approaching phase of polishing, a fuzzy PI controller was proposed to reduce the overshoot and response time. To implement the control method, the controller model was established on Simulink and the control system was developed based on TwinCAT 3 software with real-time computing capability. Finally, a polishing experiment involving a complex curved PMMA part was conducted by a force-controlled polishing device integrated into a five-axis machining center. The results show that the device can effectively maintain the polishing force to improve surface quality and optical performance.