Slurry Behavior on Traverse Polishing of Large-Scale Objects Using Small-Diameter Pads

At present, the research endeavors aim to enhance the quality of large-scale three-dimensional objects such as automobile bodies through precision chemical-mechanical polishing. However, these objects often exceed the polishing pad diameters, requiring the pads to traverse over the object’s surface. Further, polishing devices cannot easily prevent slurry dispersion, creating a demand for specialized slurry formulations to polish large-scale objects. This study assessed the impact of slurry drying properties on the polishing characteristics of large-scale objects during traverse polishing with small-diameter pads. We formulated three types of slurries with distinct drying properties and investigated the distribution of polishing amounts for each slurry. In addition, we examined the slurry behavior by visualizing the contact interface and determining the correlations between them. The results revealed that the slurry-holding capability of pad significantly influences the polishing characteristics; specifically, the pad could retain slurries with strong drying properties. Furthermore, the spread rate on the pad surface can serve as an evaluation metric for its slurry-holding capacity, and a slurry with a low spread rate is correlated with a high distribution of material removal. This study lays the foundation for developing optimized slurry formulations and polishing methods that save time and cost in high-quality industrial applications.