High precision glass polishing with ketchup

Due to the advantages over conventional polishing strategies, polishing with non-Newtonian fluids are state of the art in precision shape correction of precision optical glass surfaces. The viscosity of such fluids is not constant since it changes as a function of shear rate and time. An example is during the shape correction by polishing with pitch or ice, where pitch flows slowly under its own weight and acts like a solid body during short periods of stress as its viscosity increases. One approach is to use thixotropic fluids like ketchup to reduce the roughness by polishing, without changing the shape of the sample. Tomato ketchup shows a time-dependent change in viscosity: the longer the ketchup undergoes shear stress, the lower is its viscosity. Therefore, in this article, a new processing is put forward to polishing glass surfaces with ketchup containing micro-sized Ce2O. Besides conventional ketchup, curry ketchup and an organic product were tested as well. An industrial robot onto the work piece surface guides the polishing head. The different types of ketchup are compared by means of roughness and shape accuracy and the potential regarding to manufacture high-precise optical glass surfaces.