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The ANFF is
an open access network comprising of eight Nodes across 21 institutions with
a portfolio of more than 500 tools valued at over $200 million. See: for full details |
Diamond Turned OpticsThe node is offering an non ANFF supported service
to the community for diamond turned optics, which we will charge at ANFF
Assisted rates (ie A$100/hr) plus consumables
expenses (Diamond tools, coolant, substrates etc).
Single Point Diamond TurningSingle Point Diamond Turning (SPDT) is a manufacturing process used to quickly produce low to moderate volumes of highly accurate parts, usually to support R&D or prototyping efforts. The machine that does the single point diamond turning is a precision CNC lathe with nanometre accuracy encoders on the axes and ultra-stiff air and hydraulic linear and rotary bearings. The cutting tool is a diamond that has been specially prepared to cut the required surface geometry of the parts with radii of curvature on the tip down to ~100nm. Work principlesDiamond turning uses the same principles as traditional lathes. A workpiece is mounted to the spindle of the lathe, which is exposed to a cutting tool which may move radially or axially during rotation of the part to produce either non-rotationally symmetric parts (e.g. off axis elements or microlens arrays) or parts that do not have uniform diameters (e.g. polygons). The difference between diamond turning and traditional lathes is that diamond turning uses precision diamond cutting tools with centering accuracy to ~1 micron. ApplicationsUltra-precision SPDTs have become enabling instruments to achieve rapid turn around times for limited numbers of custom parts in different application areas including medical, aerospace, defense, dental, computer, electronics, and entertainment. Polymer optics and metal molds for polymer/glass optics and specialised off axis reflective components constitute a major section of components which can be machined with SPDT technology. These components manufactured by SPDTs are widely used in ultraviolet, infrared, and broadband optics. Additionally, SPDT is one of the machining solutions for making many ultra-precision parts, where the size control, surface smoothness control, and shape error are the main desired objectives of the finished product. Machineable materialsA wide range of metals and metallic alloys can be machined with SPDT to achieve the required smoothness and accuracy, which includes aluminum alloys, cooper, bronze, silver, platinum, brass, nickel, gold et. al. Crystals including silicon, barium fluoride, chalcogenide glass, germanium, lithium fluoride, potassium chloride, magnesium fluoride, zinc sulfide, zinc selenide et. al., are also successfully machined with SPDT. Polymers including PMMA, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyetherimide, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, cyclic olefin copolymer, cyclic olefin polymer, and nylon are also machinable with SPDT. Ceramic parts and quartz are machinable with this technology, but with are difficult due to its low efficiency as a result of high tool wear rates and deep tool marks generated into the machined surface. |
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