Process chain for fabrication of anisotropic optical functional surfaces on polymer components

This paper aims to introduce a process chain for fabrication of anisotropic optical functional surfaces on polymer products. Thesurface features under investigation are composed of micro serrated ridges. The scope was to maximize the visible contrast betweenhorizontally orthogonal textured surfaces from a certain viewing angle.

The process chain comprised three steps: tooling, replicationand quality assurance. Tooling was achieved by precision micro milling. Replication processes such as injection moulding, hotembossing, blow moulding, etc. were employed according to the specific type of product. In order to implement the traceability ofthe manufacturing process, the geometry and dimension of the micro structure on the tool and the replica were assessed viametrological methods.

The functionality of the anisotropic surfaces on the polymer replicas were evaluated by a gonioreflectometerand image processing. Eventually, according to the function evaluation of polymer products, the process chain steps will be optimizedby tuning the tooling and moulding processes.