• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.38-38
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• 2003

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.12 s.189
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• pp.7-15
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• 2006

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.182-187
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• 2004

As it is difficult to construct a micro-fluidic system composed of micro-mixers, micro-channels and/or micro-chambers in a single process, an assembly process is typically used. The assembling and bonding of micro-parts, however, introduces other problems. In this work, a virtual assembly process was developed that can be used to design various micro-systems before actual fabrication commences. In the process, the information required for the micro-stereolithography process is generated automatically. Consequently, complex micro-fluidic systems can be fabricated in a single process, thereby avoiding the need fur additional assembly or bonding processes. Using the developed process, several examples were fabricated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.233-236
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• 2003

The micro-stereolithography technology made it possible to fabricate a freeform 3D micro-structure. Using this technology, two kind of applications were fabricated and tested: micro-lens and micro-mixers. The focal length and f-number of the micro-lens were 5 mm and 2.5, respectively. The focusing ability of the micro-lens was verified by defocusing the He-Ne laser beam after passing the lens. Two mixers are Kenics micro-mixer and BEKM. BEKM is a modified Kenics micro-mixer by introducing barriers on the pipe walt periodically to enhance the mixing via the chaotic mechanism in the helical flow of Kenics micro-mixer. Experimental result shows good mixing performance of developed mixers. Especially, the BEKM shows better mixing performance then Kenics micro-mixer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.304-309
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• 2004

As it is difficult to construct a micro-fluidic system composed of micro-mixers, micro-channels and/or micro-chambers in a single process, an assembly process is typically used. The assembling and bonding of micro-parts, however, introduces other problems. In this work, a virtual assembly process was developed that can be used to design various micro-fluidic systems before actual fabrication commences. In the process, the information required for the micro-stereolithography process is generated automatically. Consequently, complex micro-fluidic systems can be fabricated in a single process, thereby avoiding the need for additional assembly or bonding processes. Using the developed process, several examples were fabricated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.12 s.189
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• pp.117-121
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• 2006

Generally, micro-stereolithography technology uses laser and complex optical system as light source and light delivery system, respectively. In this research, a novel micro-stereolithography technology that uses UV lamp that is more economical than UV laser as light source and optical fiber that is simpler than previous light delivery system has been developed. Furthermore, precise control system that is composed of 3-axis linear stage and shutter has been used to fabricate truly three dimensional micro-structure. For confirming the feasibility of developed micro-stereolithography apparatus, the solidification experiments were conducted. The solidification widths and depths datum of photopolymer as varying scanning speed of the UV light have been obtained. Using developed apparatus, some micro structures were fabricated successfully.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.147-148
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• 2006

A research on scaffold fabrication has been progressed in many research groups. However, the mechanical properties of existing biodegradable materials are still not satisfactory. But, PPF (poly (propylene fumarate)) has a good mechanical property in comparison to other biodegradable materials. Nevertheless, the viscosity of the synthesized PPF is too high to fabricate structures using micro-stereolithography. Therefore, the viscosity of the resin was made low by adding the diethyl fumarate and this material could be used in micro-stereolithography apparatus. Then, a photoinitiator was added for photo crosslinking of the DEF/PPF resin. 2.5D and 3D scaffolds were fabricated our system and curing characteristics of the resin were analyzed through the experiment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.1037-1040
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• 2002

In micro-stereolithography technology, fabrication conditions that include laser power, laser scan speed, laser scan pitch, and material property of photopolymer such as penetration depth and critical exposure are considered as major process variables. But the existing scan path generation methods based only on CAD model have not taken them into account, which has resulted in cross-section dimension of low accuracy. Thus, to enhance cross-section dimensional accuracy, the physical resin solidification n phenomena should be reflected in laser scan path generation and stage operating code. In this paper, multi-line experiments based on single line solidification model are performed. And the method for improving cross-section dimensional accuracy is presented, which is to apply the database based on experimental results to laser scan path generation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.615-618
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• 2005

All over the world, many kinds of micro-actuators were already developed for various applications. The actuators are using various principles such as electromagnetic, piezoelectric and thermopneumatic etc. The most of the micro-actuators have been made using 2D based MEMS technology. In these actuators, it is difficult to drive 3-dimensional motion. This characteristic gives the limit of actuator application. However, micro-stereolithography technology has made it possible to fabricate freeform three-dimensional microstructures. In this technology, 2-dimensional micro-shape layer is cumulated on the other layers. This layer-by-layer process is the main principle to fabricate 3-dimensioal micro-structures. In this research, a micro-bellows actuator that is vertically moving was developed using the micro-stereolithography technology. When pressure was applied into the bellows, a non-contact actuating motion is generated. For actuation experiment, syringe pump and laser interferometer were used for applying pressure and measuring the displacement. Several hundreds micro-scale actuation was observed. And, to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed actuation principle, in this research, a micro-gripper was developed using half-bellows structure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.6 s.237
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• pp.904-912
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• 2005

The flow in a microchannel is usually characterized as a low Reynolds number (Re) so that good mixing is quite difficult to be achieved. In this regard, we developed a novel chaotic micromixer, named Barrier Embedded Kenics Micromixer (BEKM). In the BEKM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: (i) splitting/reorientation by helical elements inside the microchannel and (ii) stretching/folding via periodically located barriers on the channel wall. The fully three-dimensional geometry of BEKM was realized by a micro-stereolithography technology, in this study, along with a Kenics micromixer and a circular T-pipe. Mixing performances of three micromixers were experimentally characterized in terms of an average mixing color intensity of phenolphthalein. Experimental results show that BEKM has better mixing performance than other two micromixers. Chaotic mixing mechanism, proposed in this study, could be integrated as a mixing component with Micro-Total-Analysis-System, Lab-on-a-chip and so on.