Anhydrous based shear-thickening polishing of KDP crystal

Based on the special physical–chemical characteristics of optical crystal in the field of aeronautics, a new anhydrous based shear-thickening polishing (ASTP) method has been proposed to restrain deliquescence and to improve physical properties for KDP machining. The ultra-precision polishing of KDP crystal is completed by ASTP. A kind of anhydrous based thickening polishing slurry (ATPS) was proposed in our work, and high-performance rheological properties were determined to achieve the ASTP of KDP crystal. A material removal model of ASTP in KDP machining is established, followed by the verification experiment of the prediction model. The maximum error of the predictive model is only 9.8%, which proves the validity of the material removal model for KDP polishing. The polishing experiments were carried out on the polishing platform developed by ourselves. The results show that the new polishing method can polish 20 mm × 20 mm × 5 mm KDP crystal and obtain a super-smooth surface with a surface roughness of 1.37 nm and high shape accuracy. The surface accuracy of polished KDP crystal reaches up to 0.68λ (RMS). The experimental results show that the ASTP is a potential ultra-precision machining method for KDP crystal.