Process influence of shrinkage in precision glass moulding

Precision glass moulding is increasingly used as replication technology for high precision Optical parts. The variety of geometries that can be moulded, as aspherical lenses, lens arrays and freeform lenses, as well as the reproducible quality of the moulded product have driven the field of application besides mass production towards smaller lot sizes with highest requirements. In the past, research efforts concentrated on modelling and experimental analysis of viscoelastic glass behaviour and optical properties of moulded glass parts [1]. The influence of process parameters on the geometrical accuracy of the component has not been studied so far and is especially important to improve the accuracy of advanced modelling tools. This work assesses main influence factors determined in preliminary studies, to evaluate their influence on the shrinkage of precision moulded glass parts.