Grinding process for beveling and lapping operations in lens manufacturing

A grinding process that uses loose abrasives for the beveling of lenses is presented. Determination of the parameters of grinding tools with loose abrasives for beveling applications with various optical elements is discussed. The process of grinding with loose abrasives for a lapping operation is analyzed by examination of the influence of optical glass material parameters on material removal and surface roughness for lens manufacturing conditions. The model established for this analysis uses the concept of lateral fracture, which is based on removal of optical glass material by rolling abrasive particles. The particles remove material by lateral cracking. The abrasive mineral Barton Garnet was used in the lapping experiments. Under specific large-diameter lens manufacturing conditions, lapping time values at the conventional removal depth have been obtained for various optical glasses.