Injection molding of plastic optical lenses prevails over many other techniques in both efficiency and cost; however, polymer shrinkage during cooling, high level of uneven residual stresses, and refractive index variations have limited its potential use for high precision lens fabrication. In this research, we adopted a newly developed strong graphene network to both plano and convex fused silica mold surfaces and proposed a novel injection molding with graphene-coated fused silica molds. This advanced injection molding process was implemented in the molding of polymer-based plano-concave lenses resulting in reduced polymer shrinkage. In addition, internal residual stresses and refractive index variations were also analyzed and discussed in detail. Meanwhile, as a comparison of conventional injection mold material, aluminum mold inserts with the same shape and size were also diamond machined and then employed to mold the same plano-concave lenses. Finally, a simulation model using moldex3d was utilized to interpret stress distributions of both graphene and aluminum molds and then validated by experiments. The comparison between graphene-coated mold and aluminum mold reveals that the novel injection molding with carbide-bonded graphene-coated fused silica mold inserts is capable of molding high-quality optical lenses with much less shrinkage and residual stresses with a more uniform refractive index distribution.
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August 2019
Research-Article
Fabrication of Plano-Concave Plastic Lens by Novel Injection Molding Using Carbide-Bonded Graphene-Coated Silica Molds
Xiaohua Liu,
Xiaohua Liu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
Beijing Institute of Technology
,No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
China
;Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: liuxh89@126.com
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: liuxh89@126.com
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Lin Zhang,
Lin Zhang
Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhou.1879@buckeyemail.osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhou.1879@buckeyemail.osu.edu
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Wenchen Zhou,
Wenchen Zhou
Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhang.5265@buckeyemail.osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhang.5265@buckeyemail.osu.edu
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Tianfeng Zhou,
Tianfeng Zhou
School of Mechanical Engineering,
No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
e-mail: zhoutf@bit.edu.cn
Beijing Institute of Technology
,No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
China
e-mail: zhoutf@bit.edu.cn
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L. James Lee,
L. James Lee
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: lee.31@osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: lee.31@osu.edu
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Allen Y. Yi
Allen Y. Yi
1
Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: yi.71@osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: yi.71@osu.edu
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
Xiaohua Liu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
Beijing Institute of Technology
,No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
China
;Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: liuxh89@126.com
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: liuxh89@126.com
Lin Zhang
Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhou.1879@buckeyemail.osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhou.1879@buckeyemail.osu.edu
Wenchen Zhou
Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhang.5265@buckeyemail.osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: zhang.5265@buckeyemail.osu.edu
Tianfeng Zhou
School of Mechanical Engineering,
No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
e-mail: zhoutf@bit.edu.cn
Beijing Institute of Technology
,No. 5, Zhongguancun South Street,
Haidian District, Beijing 100081,
China
e-mail: zhoutf@bit.edu.cn
Jianfeng Yu
L. James Lee
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: lee.31@osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: lee.31@osu.edu
Allen Y. Yi
Department of Integrated Systems Engineering,
Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: yi.71@osu.edu
The Ohio State University
,Columbus, OH 43210
e-mail: yi.71@osu.edu
1Corresponding author.
Manuscript received September 20, 2018; final manuscript received May 28, 2019; published online June 21, 2019. Assoc. Editor: Martine Dubé.
J. Manuf. Sci. Eng. Aug 2019, 141(8): 081011 (7 pages)
Published Online: June 21, 2019
Article history
Received:
September 20, 2018
Revision Received:
May 28, 2019
Accepted:
May 29, 2019
Citation
Liu, X., Zhang, L., Zhou, W., Zhou, T., Yu, J., Lee, L. J., and Yi, A. Y. (June 21, 2019). "Fabrication of Plano-Concave Plastic Lens by Novel Injection Molding Using Carbide-Bonded Graphene-Coated Silica Molds." ASME. J. Manuf. Sci. Eng. August 2019; 141(8): 081011. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4043980
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