Abstract
Experimental and numerical studies were carried out in order to investigate the processability and the transcriptability of the injection molding of micro structures. For this purpose, we designed a mold insert having micro rib patterns on a relatively thick base part. Mold insert has a base of 2mm thickness, and has nine micro ribs on that base plate. Width and height of the rib are $300{\mu}m\;and\;1200{\mu}m$, respectively. We found a phenomenon similar to 'race tracking', due to 'hesitation' in the micro ribs. As the melt flows, it starts to cool down and melt front located in the ribs near the gate cannot penetrate further because the flow resistance is large in that almost frozen portion. When the base is totally filled, the melt front away from the gate is not frozen yet. Therefore, it flows back to the gate direction through the ribs. Consequently, transcriptability of the rib far from the gate is better. We also verified this phenomenon via numerical simulation. We further investigated the effects of processing conditions, such as flow rate, packing time, packing pressure, wall temperature and melt temperature, on the transcriptability. The most dominant factor that affects the flow pattern and the transcriptability of the micro rib is flow rate. High flow rate and high melt temperature enhance the transcriptability of micro rib structure. High packing time and high packing pressure result in insignificant dimensional variations of the rib. Numerical simulation also confirms that low flow rate causes a short shot of micro ribs and high wall temperature helps the filling of the micro ribs.
