Kinematic characterization of a polishing machine for the design of petal tools and its application in the parabolization of reflective optical surfaces

Abstract

In this work, the results of the manufacture of a parabolic mirror with a diameter of 140mm with a focal ratio of f/8.5 are presented using a petal-type tool. The petal–type tool transforms a polished surface initially as a spherical surface to a surface with a parabolic profile. The kinematic of the PUCP Optical Workshop main polishing machine is obtained and via a roughing simulation of the spherical surface based on this kinematics, the shape of tool petal is obtained to convert the spherical surface into a parabolic one. The evaluation of the parabolic surface was carried outgraphic-visually, comparing the real patterns of the Ronchi test with the patterns obtained by simulation. The simulation of the Ronchi patterns was carried out using the "Ronchi for Windows" software.