Abstract
Binderless tungsten carbide (WC) finds widespread applications in precision glass molding (PGM). Grinding and polishing are the main processes to realize optical surface finish on binderless WC mold inserts. The laser assisted turning (LAT) by in-process heating is an efficient method to enhance the machinability of hard and brittle materials. In this paper, laser heating temperature was pre-calculated by the finite element analysis, and was utilized to facilitate laser power selection. The effects of rake angle, depth of cut, feed rate, and laser power are studied experimentally using the Taguchi method. The variance, range, and signal-to-noise ratio analysis methods are employed to evaluate the effects of the factors on the surface roughness. Based on the self-developed LAT system, binderless WC mold inserts with mirror finished surfaces are machined using the optimal parameters. PGM experiments of molding glass lenses for practical application are conducted to verify the machined mold inserts quality. The experiment results indicate that both the mold inserts and molded lenses with the required quality are achieved.
Highlights
The binderless tungsten carbide (WC), as the typical hard and brittle material, has been widely applied in the field of optics, photonics and life science owing to its ideal physical properties [1]
There is a bottleneck of severe tool wear in using single point diamond turning (SPDT) [3]
Binderless WC mold inserts were machined based on the self-developed laser assisted turning (LAT) system, and were used in the precision glass molding (PGM) experiment subsequently. Both the mold inserts and molded lenses with ideal surface quality were achieved, verifying the in-process-heat laser assisted turning (In-LAT) machined mold insert can be successfully applied for the replicative mass production of glass lenses with mirror finished surface
Summary
The binderless tungsten carbide (WC), as the typical hard and brittle material, has been widely applied in the field of optics, photonics and life science owing to its ideal physical properties [1]. On account of the materials’ improved machinability at elevated temperature, laser assisted turning (LAT) is reliable for hard and brittle material machining and is getting more applications. With this approach, the machining efficiency, cutting force, and tool wear can be greatly improved. Binderless WC mold inserts were machined based on the self-developed LAT system, and were used in the precision glass molding (PGM) experiment subsequently Both the mold inserts and molded lenses with ideal surface quality were achieved, verifying the In-LAT machined mold insert can be successfully applied for the replicative mass production of glass lenses with mirror finished surface.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
