Improvement of glass formability in ultrasonic vibration assisted molding process

Micro optical elements with complex shapes are needed increasingly in optical, optoelectronic and biomedical industries. Since glass molding process is an effective approach to fabricate microstructures, and its surface quality strongly depends on the filling capacity of glass at high temperature. To improve the formability and reduce adhesion between the glass and the mold at high temperature, ultrasonic vibration is applied to improve the formability in the molding process. Fundamental experiments are carried out to test the effectiveness of ultrasonic vibration on friction force decrease and a bonding model on the glass-mold interface at elevated temperature is proposed. Finite element method (FEM) simulation and glass molding experiments are conducted to evaluate the improvements of material formability brought about by ultrasonic vibration. The results show that the ultrasonic vibration can significantly lower the friction force and increase the glass formability.