Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1978.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S. in environmental engineering)--Washington State University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1978.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1983.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1983.

No description available.

Two new technologies, for polishing and testing large optics, are presented in this dissertation. The first is a new approach to generating and polishing aspheric surfaces which utilizes a full size stressed lap. The lap specifications are chosen to automatically generate a specific amount of spherical aberration. The required comatic distortion of the lap is induced by a system of levers and springs which are stretched and relaxed as the lap moves. A lap was constructed to grind and polish a 20cm glass blank. The resultant polished surface, in agreement with the predicted asphericity, has 28 microns of spherical aberration at its edge, appropriate for a F/2.0 convex paraboloid. The average radial profile has a residual peak-to-valley error of 200nm and an rms error of 60nm. This experiment serves as a first successful test of the stressed lap concept and as a demonstration of a new method for generating aspheric secondary mirrors. The second new technology is concerned with testing large optics where vibrations can be a serious problem. A modification to the usual phase shifting interferometry reduction algorithm permits measurements to be taken fast enough to essentially freeze out vibrations. Only two interferograms are needed with an exact phase relationship; and these can be recorded very rapidly on either side of the interline transfer of a standard CCD video camera, prior to charge transfer readout. The third required interferogram is a null. An analysis of potential phase errors was performed for this "2 + 1" algorithm. In the developed implementation, two frequencies, dν/ν≈10⁻⁸, are generated with orthogonal polarizations. A Pockels cell rapidly switches the frequency entering the interferometer, resulting in a phase shift over the long path difference of the interferometer. The two time critical interferograms are acquired with a 1ms separation resulting in a reduction in sensitivity to vibration of one to two orders of magnitude. Laboratory tests were performed to compare this "2 + 1" system with a commercial phase shifting package. Similar phase determination accuracies were found when vibrations were low. However, the "2 + 1" system also succeeded when vibrations were large enough to wash out video rate fringes.

<p>Nowadays, the polishing process is one of the most important steps of the manufacturing of moulds and dies. Occupying up to 40% of the total production time and cost, it is decisive for the final appearance and quality of a surface. Because of its complexity, the polishing is mainly carried out manually; and the final quality depends of the expertise of the operator. That is why an automation of the polishing process is necessary.</p><p>The purpose of this project was to find out the optimized sequence of polishing for a Mirrax ESR steel (Uddeholm Tooling AB) using the Strecon RAP-200 (robot assisted polishing equipment). Using a Design of Experiment, the machine parameters were tested in order to better understand their influences and interactions. The report starts with a description of general polishing knowledge and ends up with the results from a Design of Experiment.</p><p>The information from this test are a first step in the evaluation of the Strecon RAP-200. Even if many results have been found out, only four parameters have been tested, and to be able to optimize the polishing sequence, further studies need to be carried out.</p>