Institut für Werkstoffkunde Forschung School for Additive Manufacturing Projekte
Additive production of functionalized silicone optics

Additive production of functionalized silicone optics

Jahr:  2020
Förderung:  Leibniz University of Hannover
Supervisor:Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roland Lachmayer
Co-Supervisor:Dr.-Ing. Paul Gembarski    
Projekt ID:16
Location:

Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Produktentwicklung und Gerätebau  (IPeG)   

Motivation

While additive manufacturing technologies for metals and polymers have been employed successfully in industry for many years, research into the generative production of silicones is still in its infancy. Especially with regard to optical elements such as lenses, this material class offers a high potential, since it can withstand higher ambient temperatures than polymers and can also be reversibly deformed by mechanical force.

Objectives

Within the scope of this PhD project, mechanically deformable, highly transparent silicone optics shall be additively manufactured. This requires a comprehensive literature research and the performance of preliminary tests for the functionalization of the silicone matrix. One approach, for example, is the addition of metal particles which are subjected to a force in a magnetic field. The interaction of mechanical deformation with other optically relevant material properties such as local refractive index, polarization and stress birefringence shall be taken into account.    

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