Designing 3D-Printed LED Optics for Optimizing Target Plane Application Efficacy

At present, solid-state light sources are more efficacious than traditional lighting technologies. To provide benefits in the target applications, this efficacy advantage at the light source has to be supplemented by the optical system used in the lighting system. In general, optical systems can be broadly classified as refractive or reflective based on the optical elements used in the lighting system. Usually, these secondary optic elements are made using injection molding (lenses) or casting and subsequent machining and polishing (reflectors) in large-scale productions. This aspect tends to reduce the use of unique or custom optical solutions in practical applications. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has been successfully used to manufacture small- to medium-scale production volumes of customized solutions in other industries. This technology provides an opportunity to manufacture optical components that maximize the efficacy of a target application by creating unique optical components that facilitate the distribution of light in desired directions. In this study, an optical system based on reflective principles was designed to provide a Type V distribution on the target plane. The designed reflector system was 3D-printed and laboratory tested for total light output, intensity distribution, light output distribution, and optical efficiency. The test results were compared with Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulation results.