Experimental studies on reflective finishing of aluminum sheet by CNC abrasive lapping

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on improving the surface properties of Aluminum (Al) sheets for imaging and optical applications. To achieve high efficiency and low damage, novel CNC abrasive lapping (CNC AL) techniques were proposed and tested. The experiments investigated the impact of various parameters, such as spindle speed, feed rate, and depth of cut, using two types of abrasives (PCD and hybrid PCD with Al2O3) on the surface quality (Ra) and reflectance (R) of the Al sheets. Optimal parameters were determined using Taguchi L9 and (S/N) analysis, favoring low spindle speed, low feed rate, and high depth of cut. Surface roughness was measured with Surfcom1400G, while SEM EDX, AFM, and 3D profilometer were used to assess surface microstructures. Significant improvement of 35-96% was observed in the highly reflective Al sheets using UV-VIS spectrophotometry and texture analysis in MATLAB.

KEYWORDS:

• CNC machine
• abrasives
• aluminum sheet
• surface finish
• reflectance
• variance

Acknowledgments

The authors like to acknowledge the support rendered by management and the teaching and non-teaching staff members in Machine Shop, Metrology and Metallurgy lab, Nano Technology Research Center, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur for providing fabrication, testing facilities to carry out the research. Also the author would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for their useful comments and suggestion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.