Durability of coated CR-39 industrial lenses

To study the effect of coatings on the resistance of CR-39 industrial plano lenses to ballistic impacts and abrasion from fine particles.

Twelve groups of CR-39 lenses with various scratch-resistant (SR) or combinations of scratch-resistant and antireflective (SR-AR) coatings were mounted in metal industrial spectacle frames. The ZEST protocol was used to determine the mean impact speed for breakage of each lens group using the Canadian Standards Association ballistic test protocol. One pair of lenses from each group was tested for abrasion resistance using the falling sand method. Abrasion resistance was ranked by the degree of haze observed by three independent observers.

Uncoated lenses had the best impact resistance and worst abrasion resistance. SR-coated lenses showed mild to moderate reductions in impact resistance, with no correlation between impact and abrasion resistance. SR-AR-coated lenses had very good abrasion resistance, but severely reduced impact resistance.

Most SR-coated CR-39 lenses have a high probability of meeting the high-velocity impact resistance requirement of industrial lenses, whereas CR-39 lenses with SR-AR coats are too fragile to be used in industrial spectacles. As a group, the SR-AR coating tended to be more resistant to abrasion by fine particles and less resistant to ballistic impacts, but the abrasion resistance of the SR-coated lenses was more variable, and, thus, overall there was no significant correlation between impact resistance and abrasion resistance.