Microinjection molding of thermoplastic polymers: a review

Giboz, Julien; Copponnex, Thierry; Mélé, P.

doi:10.1088/0960-1317/17/6/r02

Cited by 469 publications

(361 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…The development of MEMS and Microsystems (MST) is inspiring the global trend towards miniaturization, which is creating a huge market for micro components with micro/nano scale features [1], especially microfluidic devices, which have wide applications in chemical, biological and medical diagnostics, etc [2]. Currently, the dimensions of micro channels for microfluidic devices range from 10 to 100 µm and even extend to the submicron and nanometer scale for manipulation and measurement of individual molecules [3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Replication of micro/nano-scale features by micro injection molding with a bulk metallic glass mold insert

Zhang

Chu

Byrne

et al. 2012

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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Abstract. The development of MEMS and Microsystems needs a reliable massproduction process to fabricate micro components with micro/nano scale features. In our study, we used the micro injection molding process to replicate micro/nano scale channels and ridges from a Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) cavity insert. High density polyethylene (HDPE) was used as the molding material and Design of Experiment (DOE) was adopted to systematically and statistically investigate the relationship between machine parameters, real process conditions and replication quality. The peak cavity pressure and temperature were selected as process characteristic values to describe the real process conditions that material experienced during the filling process. The experiments revealed that the replication of ridges, including feature edge, profile and filling height, was sensitive to the flow direction; cavity pressure and temperature both increased with holding pressure and mold temperature; replication quality can be improved by increasing cavity pressure and temperature within a certain range. The replication quality of micro/nano features is tightly related to the thermomechanical history of material experienced during the molding process. In addition, the longevity and roughness of the BMG insert was also evaluated based on the number of injection molding cycles.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Replication of micro/nano-scale features by micro injection molding with a bulk metallic glass mold insert

Zhang

Chu

Byrne

et al. 2012

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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“…The volume of the whole molding with 0.99 mm thickness of the remaining sprue and 0.11 mm thickness of the gap ring is 148 mm 3 , according to the modeling software. Figure 3d displays detailed dimensions of a molded part, which has a volume and surface area of around 18 mm 3 and 112 mm 2 , respectively. Thus, the ratio of surface area to volume and the ratio of part weight to the whole shot weight (including runner system) were around 6 and 24%, respectively.…”

Section: Mold Insert and Part Geometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The machine variables selected were injection speed (V i ), packing velocity (V p ), mold temperature (T m ), and melt temperature (T b ), which are the key molding machine settings for the lIM process [2]. HDPE exhibited good processability, thus, a two-level four-factor half fractional design with eight experiments was selected.…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The polymer microinjection molding (lIM) process is a key enabling technology for microsystems, because it has the potential to produce repetitively and consistently large numbers of microcomponents with complex shape and high surface quality at low cost [1]. The production of microparts using conventional injection molding (CIM) machines leads to large amounts of waste and material degradation during different processing steps [2]. Thus, special lIM machines have been developed to minimize waste and to limit degradation of the polymer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of the microinjection molding process

Chu

Kamal

Derdouri

et al. 2010

Polymer Engineering & Sci

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The commonly used plunger injection system in the microinjection molding (μIM) process has separate screw melting, metering, and injection units. As a result, extra operating parameters and complexity are introduced, in comparison with conventional injection molding. In this study, a μIM machine was used to obtain micromoldings of polyoxymethylene, high‐density polyethylene, and polycarbonate. A data acquisition system was developed to record traces of data regarding the evolution of process variables with time. Cavity filling was followed, at the millisecond time scale, using short‐shot experiments and traces of injection pressure, runner pressure, and plunger position. Six characteristic process parameters (CPPs) were defined to characterize both the cavity filling and packing stages. The method of design of experiments was used to investigate the effects of machine settings on the CPPs. Metering size, which was optimized for each set of machine variables, was also used as a CPP. Injection speed was the most significant factor affecting plunger velocity and injection pressure during cavity filling, while the effects of mold and melt temperature varied with the material and machine settings. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers

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“…Micro-injection moulding is one of the main manufacturing technologies for mass production of thermoplastic high value miniaturized components [0,2]. Several unfilled polymers have been successfully processed through microinjection moulding [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]; for these materials, the processability [3][4], the mechanical properties [5][6][7] and the relationship between properties and micro-structure [8][9][10] were investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical properties of micro-injected HDPE composites

Bongiorno¹,

Pagano²,

Agnelli³

et al. 2016

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Micro-injection moulding is one of the key manufacturing technologies for the mass production of high value polymeric miniaturized-components. However, this process is not just a straightforward down scaling of the conventional injection moulding technique. Indeed, during the micro-injection the polymer melt is forced to flow at high strain rates through very small channels in non-isothermal conditions, and this can lead to complex microstructures and to parts with unexpected performances. In this work, the relationships among the processing conditions, the mechanical properties and the microstructural characteristics of miniaturized specimens obtained by injection moulding were investigated. Two model systems were considered with the same filler content of 15% wt. (HDPE-talc and HDPE-glass beads), representative of two different types of micro-composites: containing lamellar and spherical micro-particles, respectively. The attention was focused on the influence of the filler type and the process conditions on the mechanical behaviour, examined by uniaxial tensile tests and dynamic-mechanical analyses, and on the morphological characteristics of the specimens, examined by microscopy analyses. The results highlight that mechanical response of the miniaturized specimens is significantly affected by both the filler and the process conditions that can have an influence on the polymer microstructure. Lamellar composites showed the best performance due to the orientation of the talc particles during the micro-injection process, while, different morphologies of the skin/core transition region in dependence on the process temperatures were observable.

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Microinjection molding of thermoplastic polymers: a review

Cited by 469 publications

References 89 publications

Replication of micro/nano-scale features by micro injection molding with a bulk metallic glass mold insert

Replication of micro/nano-scale features by micro injection molding with a bulk metallic glass mold insert

Characterization of the microinjection molding process

Mechanical properties of micro-injected HDPE composites

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