Reaction-sintered silicon carbide (RS-SiC) has been widely used in space telescope systems for its excellent physical and mechanical properties. Thermally oxidation-assisted polishing is a practical machining method to obtain RS-SiC parts with high precision, and the research focus is optimization of process parameters, because there are bumpy structures on the oxidized RS-SiC. By atomic force microscopy (AFM) detection, the distributions of oxides on the oxidized RS-SiC sample are quantitative analyzed when the thermal oxidation time is 5min, 30min, and 60min, and the calculated average differences of oxide heights between the initial Si grains and SiC grains are 10.7nm, 25.1nm, and 35.2nm, respectively. Meanwhile, the volume expansion coefficient in oxidation of Si/SiC to SiO2 is 2.257 and 2.194, respectively. Through theoretical derivation based on the Deal-Grove model, the numerical relationship between differences of oxide heights and thermal oxidation time is obtained. Combining with the material removal rate of oxide by ceria slurry in the abrasive polishing, the obtained surface quality can be precisely forecasted and controlled. The oxidized RS-SiC sample, when the oxidation time is 30min, is polished with different times to verify the theoretical analysis results. When the polishing times are 20min, 30min, and 40min, the obtained differences of oxide heights by the AFM detection are consistent with theoretical calculated results. Research on the optimal process parameters in thermally oxidation-assisted polishing of RS-SiC can improve the process level of RS-SiC sample and promote the application of SiC parts.
Reaction-sintered silicon carbide (RS-SiC) is a research focus in the field of optical manufacturing. Atmospheric-pressure plasma-based chemical dry figuring and finishing, which consist of plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM) and plasma-assisted polishing (PAP), were applied to improve material removal rate (MRR) in rapid figuring and ameliorate surface quality in fine finishing. Through observing the processed RS-SiC sample in PCVM by scanning white-light interferometer (SWLI), the calculated peak-MRR and volume-MRR were 0.533 μm/min and 2.78×10−3 mm3/min, respectively. The comparisons of surface roughness and morphology of the RS-SiC samples before and after PCVM were obtained by the scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. It could be found that the processed RS-SiC surface was deteriorated with surface roughness rms 382.116 nm. The evaluations of surface quality of the processed RS-SiC sample in PAP corresponding to different collocations of autorotation speed and revolution speed were obtained by SWLI measurement. The optimal surface roughness rms of the processed RS-SiC sample in PAP was 2.186 nm. There were no subsurface damages, scratches, or residual stresses on the processed sample in PAP. The results indicate that parameters in PAP should be strictly selected, and the optimal parameters can simultaneously obtain high MRR and smooth surface.
Reaction-sintered silicon carbide (RS-SiC) is a promising optical material for the space telescope systems. Anodically oxidation-assisted polishing is a method to machine RS-SiC. The electrolyte used in this study is a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydrochloric acid (HCl), and the oxidation potential has two modes: constant potential and high-frequency-square-wave potential. Oxide morphologies are compared by scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and scanning white-light interferometer. The results indicate that anodic oxidation under constant potential can not only obtain a relatively smooth surface but also be propitious to obtain high material removal rate. The oxidation depth in anodic oxidation under constant potential is calculated by comparing surface morphologies before and after hydrofluoric acid etching. The theoretical oxidation rate is 5.3 nm/s based on the linear Deal–Grove model. Polishing of the oxidized RS-SiC is conducted to validate the machinability of the oxide layer. The obtained surface roughness root-mean-square is around 4.5 nm. Thus, anodically oxidation-assisted polishing can be considered as an efficient method, which can fill the performance gap between the rough figuring and fine finishing of RS-SiC. It can improve the machining quality of RS-SiC parts and promote the application of RS-SiC products.
Reaction-sintered silicon carbide (RS-SiC), which is considered as a promising mirror material for space telescope systems, requires a high surface property. An ultrasmooth surface with a Ra surface roughness of 0.480 nm was obtained after water vapor plasma oxidation for 90 min followed by ceria slurry polishing for 40 min. The oxidation process of RS-SiC by water vapor plasma was analyzed based on the Deal–Grove model, and the theoretical calculation results are consistent with the measured data obtained by scanning white light interferometer (SWLI), scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray, and atomic force microscope. The polishing process of oxidized RS-SiC by ceria slurry was investigated according to the Preston equation, which would theoretically forecast the evolutions of RS-SiC surfaces along with the increasing of polishing time, and it was experimentally verified by comparing the surface roughnesses obtained by SWLI and the surface morphologies obtained by SEM. The mechanism analysis on the finishing of RS-SiC would be effective for the optimization of water vapor plasma oxidation parameters and ceria slurry polishing parameters, which will promote the application of RS-SiC substrates by improving the surface property obtained by the oxidation-assisted polishing method.
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