Research in manufacturing of micro-structured injection molded polymer parts

An overview of current research results is given for the topic of injection molding of micro-structured polymer parts regarding filling behavior and demolding process of micro-structures as well as the production of micro-structures on curved surfaces. In order to better understand how micro-structures are formed during the filling stage of injection molding, a study was performed on a test part with micro-channels placed parallely and perpendicularly to flow direction. Short shots with a highly fluent Polypropylene grade were injection molded with the melt front stopping in the structure fields. The melt and mold temperature, the injection rate as well as the use of a variotherm heating system were varied in a systematic Design of Experiments. The shape of the flow front was investigated with the optical measurement system Alicona InfiniteFocus. The data gained was analyzed with Matlab scripts and provided the needed distance to completely fill the structures as a reference value. The next topic covers the demolding step, which is a crucial process step in injection molding of micro-structured parts as the successfully replicated structures often get destroyed in the following demolding step. In order to evaluate the influence of the four aspects polymer, mold surface (coatings), structure (geometry and placement) and process settings on the demolding behavior, an injection mold with integrated measurement system was built, which makes it possible to measure the demolding force respectively a demolding energy under process conditions. These values can be used to quantitatively compare the impact of the above mentioned influencing factors on demolding. Finally, a concept to produce micro-structures on curved surfaces with injection molding is shown: A flat metal premaster structure is used to produce an elastomeric polymer (dimethylsiloxane) master in a casting process. This master is fixed in a conventional injection mold and a thermoplastic polymer is replicated on this master in an injection molding process.