ASYNOPSISOFP.R.

YODERSLENSMOUNTINGTECHNIQUES

JEFFREYTDAIKER
OPTI521
NOVEMBER8,2010

ABSTRACT
AsynopsisofPaulR.YoderspaperLensMountingTechniquesisprovidedwhichreviewsa
varietyofdesigntechniquesforsecuringlensesintheirmechanicalhousingstoensuretheproper
functionoftheinstrumentinitsintendedenvironment.Mountingtechniquesforindividualand
groupsoflensesarebrieflydescribed.Componentsizesconsideredhererangefromlessthanone
inchtomorethan10inchesindiameter.

INTRODUCTION
Areviewofavarietyofwaystomountrotationallysymmetriclensesinthesizerangeofabout0.5
to10inchesindiameterisprovided.Techniquesformountingindividualandgroupsoflensand
mirrorelementsareconsidered,progressingfromsimple,lowprecisiondesignstocomplexdesigns
forhighprecisionapplications.

MOUNTINGINDIVIDUALLENSES
Threecommonindividuallensmountingtechniquesareburnishingalensintoacell,usingan
elastomerlayertocurealensintoacell,andengagingathreadedretainerringtosecurealensinto
acell.EachofthesetechniquesisillustratedalongwithitsrespectiveadvantagesinTable1.
Burnishingisaccomplishedbydeformingthecelllipafterthelensisinserted.Theoperationis
performedbyinsertingthelensintothecell,andthenmechanicallyforcingthelipoverthelens.A
modifiedmethodhastheburnishededgereplacedwithasnapring.Thistechniqueisusefulwhen
theassemblyistobesubjectedtosevereshock.
Withtheelastomerlayertechnique,aradialspacingisallowedbetweenthelensandcellandthe
annularvoidisfilledwithresilientmaterialsuchasavulcanizing(RTV)elastomer.The
approximateradialthicknessoftheelastomerlayerbetweenthelensandthecellisgivenby

OPTI521Fall2010SynopsisDaiker

where isthelensdiameter, isthecoefficientofthermalexpansionforthemetallensbarrel,

isthecoefficientofthermalexpansionfortheelastomer,and isthecoefficientofthermal
expansionfortheglass.Atypicalelastomerthicknessvalueisroughly =0.1inchesfora2inch
diameterlens.
Theretainingringmethodformountinganindividuallensistosecureitagainsttheshoulderina
cellwithathreadedretainingring.Theretainingringloadstheelementaxiallyagainstanannular
seatandistypicallycutsquaretotheaxis,butcutstangenttotheradiusofcurvatureofthelens,or
cutandlappedtothesameradiusofcurvatureofthelensaresometimesused.Thistechnique
allowsforeasyassemblyanddisassemblyofthelensmount,naturallycompensatesforlens
thicknessvariation,andiscompatiblewithmountingmultipleelementsinasinglehousing.

TABLE1SUMMARYOFLENSMOUNTINGTECHNIQUESANDTHEIRADVANTAGES

OPTI521Fall2010SynopsisDaiker

ANALYSISOFSTRESSES
AXIAL
Inordertoproperlyselecttheoptimumlensmountingtechnique,anaxialstressimpartedonthe
lensbythemount,includingthermalinducedcontractions,shouldbeconsidered.An
approximationtocalculatethestress inthelinecontactofasquarecornerspacerisgivenby

0.798

where isloadperunitlengthoflinecontact, isthelensdiameter, isthecornerdiameterof

theretainerring, isthePoissonsratiofortheglass, isthePoissionsratioforthemetal, is
theglassmodulusofelasticity,and isthemetalmodulusofelasticity.
Anexampleusingthisequation,consideraBK7lens,atypicalaxialstressvaluefromanaluminum
retainingringwithedgediameterof0.004inandloadperunitlengthof0.3lb/in.Theresulting
axialstress ontheorderof20,000psimightbeconsideredsafesincethematerialcangenerally
withstandontheorderof50,000psi.However,theaddedstressduetothermalcontractions
shouldalsobeconsidered.Anequationthatevaluatestheaxialcompressivestressintroducedinto
alensbyametalcellthatshrinksmorethantheglassasthetemperaturedropsisgivenby

where isthecoefficientofthermalexpansionforthemetaland
expansionfortheglass.

thecoefficientofthermal

Inanexamplescenariocharacteristicofmilitaryequipmentsurvivalrequirements,if isequalto
150Fthentheaxialstresswouldbeontheorderof7500psi.Theaxialstressesduetotheretaining
ringforceandthermalchangesgiveafactorofsafetyofaroundtwo.Thestressimpartedonthe
glasssurfacecouldbedramaticallyreducedwithoutreducingtherequiredloadingforceby
changingthedesigntotangentcontactbetweentheglassandmetalparts,whichessentially
increasesthesurfaceareabetweenthetwosurfaces.

RADIAL
Somelensassemblies,suchasthoseintendedforuseinsevereshockandvibrationenvironments,
aredesignedwithverylittleradialclearancebetweenthelensanditsmetalhousing.Insuchcases,
thedesignideallycloselymatchesthecoefficientofexpansionsoftheglassandthemetalsuchthat
extremetemperaturedecreasesdonocauseexcessiveradialcompressionofthecellontothelens.
Thisstressiscalledhoopstressandcanbeevaluatedanalyticallyanalogoustotheformulation
above;howeverconsideringatypicaldesignonearrivesatalargesafetyfactorofroughly50.
3

OPTI521Fall2010SynopsisDaiker
Theoperatingtemperaturerangeforanopticalinstrumentiscertainlylessthanitssurvivalrange.
Birefringenceandsurfacedeformationduetotheselessertemperaturechangescanadversely
affecttheopticalperformanceoftheinstrument.Stressbirefringenceismostlyofconcernin
polarizationsensitiveinstruments,andthermallycontrolledenvironmentsaresometimes
employedinthesedemandingapplications.Interferometricevaluationofmountingstressesis
commoninsomehighprecisionapplications.

MULTIELEMENTMOUNTINGCONFIGURATIONS
Therearevariouswaysinwhichtwoormorelensescanbemountedtoformlenssubassemblies,
extendingtheindividualelementmountingtreatmentsdescribedpreviously.Frequently,stack
mountedassembliesconsistoflensesinsertedsequentiallyontoaseatinalensbarrel,withspacer
ringstomaintainproperairspace,followedbyasingleretainerringtosecuretheentiregroupin
place.Inaddition,alenscanbesealedagainsttheenvironmentbyinjectingsealingcompoundinto
holesthoughthecellwall.ThesebasicprinciplesareillustratedinFigure1below.

FIGURE1EXAMPLEOFMULTIELEMENTMOUNTING

LATHEASSEMBLYTECHNIQUES
Withlatheassemblymounting,lenselementsareradiallypositionedtotheinnerdiameterofthe
matingcell.Theouterdiameterofeachlensispreciselymanufacturedtoahighdegreeof
roundness,andtheinnerdiameterofthematingmetalcellisthenmachinedtofitthatparticular
element.Inthishighperformancelensassembly,theradialloadingofthelensduetolow
temperaturecontractionisconsideredbyevaluatingthehoopstressasdescribedearlier.

OPTI521Fall2010SynopsisDaiker

CONCLUSION
Techniquesformountingrotationallysymmetricindividualandgroupsoflensandmirrorelements
inthesizerangeofabout0.5to10inchesindiameterwereconsidered,progressingfromsimple,
lowprecisiondesignstocomplexdesignsforhighprecisionapplications.
Determinationofbothaxialandradialstressontheglassduetometalcontactandthermal
contractionsareimportantinunderstandingfailuremechanismsoftheglasslensesaswellas
performancedegradationsofthedevice.Inmostcases,thesestresseswillfallwellbelowthe
compressivestrengthofglass.Abasicunderstandingofthesefundamentallensmounting
techniquesandevaluationthereofisofkeyimportanceintheopticalandoptomechanicaldesign
processasithelpsestablishcriticallensandhousingtoleranceswhichultimatelydefinetheasbuilt
performanceoftheopticalinstrumentinitsintendedenvironment.

REFERENCES
1. YoderJr.,P.R.LensMountingTechniques,Proc.ofSPIEVol.0389,OpticalSystems
EngineeringIII,ed.WilliamH.Taylor(Jan1983)
2. YoderJr.P.R.OptoMechanicalSystemsDesign.NewYork:MarcelDekker,Inc.2005
3. Bayar,M.,LensBarrelOptoMechanicalDesignPrinciples,Opt.Eng.20,181(1981)
4. Delgado,R.F.andHallinan,M.,MountingofLensElements,Opt.Eng.14,S11(1975)
5. Milby,E.(2009).ASynopsisofPaulR.YodersLensMountingTechniques.Synopsisof
technicalreportsinOptomechanics.RetrievedOctober31,2010,from
http://www.optics.arizona.edu/optomech/Technical%20Synopsis_in_optomechanics.htm