Work Package 2: Reliable Replication Technology for High-Volume Production

The main objective of work package 2 is to develop and optimize a reliable high precision glass molding technology for the large-volume production of complex shaped and structured high-precision glass parts. The goal is to ensure high reliability, high efficiency and short development periods for new products. This includes newly developed, optimized low temperature moldable (low Tg) glass as well as advanced process strategies for molding complex shaped components.

For the development of new moldable glass systems, the aim was to determine relevant properties and to find a suitable material composition.
	Low Tg glasses require intensive cooperation between glass manufacturers and users (lens makers), e.g. assistance in determinating the pressing parameters and cleaning processes. This requires very good knowledge of the compatibility of glass and mold materials or coatings, as well as stability of the respective glass towards common cleaning and coating processes. New processes adapted to low-Tg glass demands were established, and special test procedures were defined for the internal testing of the suitability for precise pressing. This facilitates shorter development and manufacturing times, thus guaranteeing an early market entry.
A new grade of tungsten carbide was developed by partner Ceratizit during the project. This tungsten carbide material CTN01L underwent testing as mold material in glass molding experiments. After 50 molding cycles it did not show any significant wear or glass deposition and turned out to be much more suitable for the glass molding process than its predecessor CTU05E.CTN01L tungsten carbide was also used as tool material in molding tests for a newly developed glass by Schott. It was used both uncoated and coated with titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) and platinum iridium (PtIr) layers.
	The glass is compatible with binderless tungsten carbide and both coatings. It can easily be processed with the possibility to use uncoated molds for evaluation and small scale manufacturing and different coating systems for large-volume production. Its very low processing temperature of 400 – 430 °C makes it very interesting for alternative mold materials.
In terms of glass molding technology, advanced and reliable process strategies for complex shaped components have been developed. Comprehensive process know-how regarding mold design, preform geometry selection and geometry-dependent molding parameters could be accumulated. The influence of process parameters on the properties of the final product was investigated to keep overall cycle time as short as possible. Another key issue was the verification of suitable compensation strategies for shrinkage errors after molding. During the transfer of project results into production processes, issues like process stability and reproducibility were addressed as well.

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