Compression Molding of Aspherical Glass Lenses–A Combined Experimental and Numerical Analysis

Compression molding of glass aspherical lenses has become a viable manufacturing process for precision optics. The widespread use of this process has been hampered by the lack of its fundamental understanding. This research is a part of the ongoing effort to understand some of the issues related to the process. Simple lens molding experiments were performed on a commercial precision lens molding machine. A finite element method (FEM) program was used to create a simple numerical model and analyze the molding process. Experimental results show that this process is capable of producing precision optical components. A comparison of the experimental results with the predicted results indicates that with a more sophisticated numerical model, it is possible to use FEM as a tool for process analysis.