Quality dependence study on dimensions for plano‐concave molded glass lenses

Abstract A comprehensive study was conducted to analyze the quality dependence of a plano‐concave molded glass lens on its own dimensions, i.e. the effective diameter, sag ratio, and center thickness ratio. To achieve this goal, a thermal‐displacement coupled finite element analysis was carried out on the whole molding process, in order to get the results of curve deviation, temperature gradient, and residual stress with sets of variations in these dimensions. Then Taguchi method, one approach for design of experiments, was incorporated to conduct sensitivity analysis on the simulation results to figure out the dominating sequence of these dimensions. The results show that the effective diameter is the most influential factor among these three dimensions. In addition, curve deviation is sensitively proportional to diameter and sag ratio, but decreases insignificantly with greater center thickness ratio. However, residual stress is distinctly proportional to diameter and center thickness ratio, but increases very slightly with greater sag ratio. Results also confirmed the consequential relationship between temperature gradient and residual stress. These discoveries are fundamentally meaningful in getting an overall understanding of the dimensions’ influence on the molded lens quality, thus will help make decision in choosing proper dimensions for optical design.