Parametric smoothing model for visco-elastic polishing tools.

A parametric smoothing model is developed to quantitatively describe the smoothing action of polishing tools that use visco-elastic materials. These materials flow to conform to the aspheric shape of the workpieces, yet behave as a rigid solid for short duration caused by tool motion over surface irregularities. The smoothing effect naturally corrects the mid-to-high frequency errors on the workpiece while a large polishing lap still removes large scale errors effectively in a short time.