Abstract

We are collaborating with the Center for Optics Manufacturing (Rochester, NY) to develop optimal designs of fine diamond grinding wheels for the spherical grinding of glass optics. To this end, we typically employ a standardized method¹ for wheel performance evaluation that focuses on workpiece quality, including surface roughness, figure and subsurface damage. New elements of our work include the use of in-process acoustic emission (AE) measurements for correlating with performance and the use of 3-D surface profiles of wheel topography. This paper includes recent AE measurements taken during the evaluation of several fine diamond grinding wheels and discusses how this new information might relate to the physical performance of the wheels. An interesting observation is also reported relating to the surface topography of worn bronze wheels using an interferometric profiler.

© 1996 Optical Society of America