Fabrication of micro-lenticular patterns using WEDM-grooving and electrolytic polishing

Abstract

Lenticular pattern panels have been used for displaying 3D effects and their precise fabrication methods have attracted great attention. In this study, we present a novel fabrication method for lenticular patterns on a stainless steel mold (AISI 304). The fabrication process was composed of two steps. First, the lenticular shape groove was machined by wire-electrical discharge machining (EDM) (WEDM-grooving). In this step, EDM was adopted because it is useful for machining hard-to-cut material such as WC-Co, stainless steel and titanium, and a newly developed wire grooving system ensures highly accurate machining. Second, electrolytic polishing was carried out afterward to improve the surface quality since the machined surface resulting from the WEDM-grooving was rough. The entire fabrication processes required a single machine and deionized water only; thus, the step change time was minimized and the method was eco-friendly. Parametric tests for the WEDM-grooving conditions as well as for the proper electrolytic polishing conditions (voltage, offset and feedrate) were executed to fabricate the grooves with fine surface. Excessive electrolytic polishing conditions caused pitting and damage from the additional sparks on the surface of the mold. On the other hand, inadequate machining conditions resulted in an incomplete electrolytic polishing process. Using this multi-step process, a lenticular pattern mold with high surface quality was machined. The lenticular pattern PDMS lens was successfully produced using the stainless steel mold.