Surface Treatment of Mold Tools in Micro Injection Molding

Griffiths, Christian

doi:10.3139/9781569906545.007

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The two technologies have the same process cycle phases (i.e., filling, packing, cooling, demoulding) but, at the same time, fundamental differences deriving from the smaller dimensional scale exist between the process chains associated with both processes. In particular, specific micro tooling processes [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], micro scale measuring techniques [ 6 ] and new design approaches [ 7 , 8 ] must be adopted when dealing with micro scale polymer processing [ 9 , 10 ]. New injection moulding machines have been also developed: conventional ones embed a reciprocating screw, while those dedicated to µIM typically have a screw for plasticising pellets and a separate plunger (diameter of 5 mm down to 2/mm) for metering and injection [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Analysis Validation of Micro and Conventional Injection Molding Machines Performances Based on Process Precision and Accuracy for Micro Manufacturing

et al. 2020

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Micro polymer parts can be usually manufactured either by conventional injection moulding (IM) or by micro-injection moulding (µIM). In this paper, functional analysis was used as a tool to investigate the performances of IM and µIM used to manufacture the selected industrial component. The methodology decomposed the production cycle phases of the two processes and attributed functions to parts features of the two investigated machines. The output of the analysis was aimed to determine casual chains leading to the final outcome of the process. Experimental validation of the functional analysis was carried out moulding the same micro medical part in thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) material using the two processes by means of multi-cavity moulds. The produced batches were assessed using a precision scale and a high accuracy optical instrument. The measurement results were compared using capability indexes. The data-driven comparison identified and quantified the correlations between machine design and part quality, demonstrating that the µIM machine technology better meets the accuracy and precision requirements typical of micro manufacturing productions.

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