Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Resin Mold by Adding Zirconia Particles

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

2015

Self Cite

Time and expense are two main important issues that are needed to manufacture sheet metal forming dies in precision machinery industry. This study presents an alternative approach of producing sheet metal forming dies that is suitable for application in a new sheet metal component research and development phase. It was found that the sheet metal forming dies can be fabricated within 1 day. The advantages of the proposed method for fabricating sheet metal forming dies include low processing time and lower manufacturing cost. The sheet metal forming dies are strong enough to fulfill small batch production. In addition, the fabricated punch has better wear resistance compared to that fabricated directly by a 3D printing machine using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastics.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cost-effective method for rapid manufacturing sheet metal forming dies

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

2015

Self Cite

“…In order to reduce the fabrication costs, rapid tooling technology was frequently used in precision industries currently. A precision mold has been successfully developed using Aluminum (Al)‐filled epoxy resin composites in our previous studies . Two major troublesome issues in the mold industry are the expense and time required to produce a mold with high‐aspect‐ratio microstructures for short runs in the new product development phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manufacturing process development of a precision rapid tooling with high‐aspect‐ratio micro‐sized features

Materialwissenschaft Werkst

Zhuang

2016

The high-aspect-ratio elements are widely employed for chemical sensors, microfluidics and medical imaging devices. To enhance the competitiveness in the market of elements with high-aspect-ratio microstructures, a cost-effective method for fabricating molds with high-aspect-ratio microstructures was proposed. In order to manufacture the second rubber mold, low-temperature plasma were used to change the surface characteristics of the rubber mold to avoid using the release agents in the manufacturing process. It was found that the aluminum (Al)-filled epoxy resin mold with the aspect ratio of 20 : 1 can be carried out in about three days. Replication rates of a precision rapid tooling with high-aspect-ratio micro-sized features around 97 % can be obtained. The total fabrication cost savings for fabricating a SU-8 microelement with the aspect ratio of 20 : 1 about 71 % can be obtained.

“…Thus, developing a hard mold for micro‐injection molding or micro‐hot embossing is an important issue. The precision epoxy resin molds have been successfully developed in previous studies . In this study, the evolution and characteristics of manufacturing processes for micro‐featured epoxy resin mold are investigated in detail.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of manufacturing processes for micro‐featured epoxy resin mold

Materialwissenschaft Werkst

Wang

Liao

et al. 2016

Micro-injection molding or micro-hot embossing is a highly effective process for fabricating micro-devices with microfeatures in polymer. Based on the strong demand on the precision components in the precision machinery industrial, two major concerns are the time and expense required for producing a precision mold for microfabrication. To enhance the competitiveness in the market of micorcomponents, this study presents six approaches for manufacturing precision epoxy resin molds with microfeatures. Evolutions manufacturing processes are described experimentally. Characteristics and applications of micro-featured epoxy resin mold are introduced in detail.