Profile error compensation in precision grinding of ellipsoid optical surface

Optical glass elements with the ellipsoidal surface are used in many critical aerospace instruments, such as satellites, telescope and cameras. Their optical performance is mainly affected by profile accuracy and surface quality. In this paper, a rectangular ellipsoid surface is precisely ground on a BK7 optical glass blank by grating scanning grinding path with a three-axis CNC precision surface grinder. A profile error compensation procedure for ellipsoidal grinding is proposed based on the error analysis about the primary error sources in the XY and YZ projection planes during the grinding process. The mathematical prediction models of the wheel arc profile error, the measurement and wear error of the grinding wheel radiuses are established. By applying the proposed error compensation procedure, the profile accuracy of the ellipsoidal surface was improved from 4 μm to 2 μm in the XY plane, and improved from 15 μm to 5 μm in the YZ plane.