• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.71-77
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• 2020

Various manufacturing technologies, including over-molding and insert-injection molding, are used to produce hybrid plastics and metals. However, there are disadvantages to these technologies, as they require several steps in manufacturing and are limited to what can be reasonably achieved within the complexities of part geometry. This study aims to determine a practical approach for producing metal/plastic hybrid components by combining plastic injection molding and metal die casting to create a new hybrid metal/plastic molding process. The integrated metal/plastic hybrid injection molding process developed in this study uses the proven method of multi-component technology as a basis to combine plastic injection molding with metal die casting into one integrated process. In this study, the electrical conductivity and ampacity were verified to qualify the new process for the production of parts used in electronic devices. The electrical conductivity was measured, contacting both sides of the test sample with constant pressure, and the resistivity was measured using a micro ohmmeter. Also, the specific conductivity was subsequently calculated from the resistivity and contact surface of the conductor path. The ampacity defines the maximum amount of current a conductive path can carry before sustaining immediate or progressive deterioration. The manufactured hybrid multi-components were loaded with increasing currents, while the temperature was recorded with an infrared camera. To compare the measured infrared images, an electro-thermal simulation was conducted using commercial CAE software to predict the maximum temperature of the power loaded parts. Overall, during the injection molding process, it was demonstrated that multifunctional parts can be produced for electric and electronic applications.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.969-976
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• 2015

In the present study, a numerical investigation of an insert injection molding process was carried out for the development of thermoplastic microfluidic chip plates with metal electrodes. Insert injection molding technology enables efficient realization of a plastic-metal hybrid structure and various efforts have been undertaken to produce novel components in several application fields. The microfluidic chip with metal inserts was proposed as a representative example and its molding process was analyzed. The important characteristics of the filling stage, such as the effects of filling time and thickness of the part cavity, were characterized. Furthermore, the detailed distributions of pressure and temperature at the end of the filling stage were investigated, revealing the significance of metal insert temperature.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.55-60
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• 2023

The fiber-reinforced plastics and cellular injection molding process can be used to efficiently reduce the weight of battery housing components of mild hybrid electronic vehicles(MHEV) made of metal. However, the fiber orientation of fiber-reinforced plastics and the growth of foaming cells are intertwined during the injection molding process, so it is difficult to predict the mechanical properties of products in the design process. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the mechanical properties of the materials prior to the efficient stiffness design of the target product. In this study, a study was conducted to evaluated the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced cellular injection-molded specimens. Two types of fiber-reinforced plastics that can be used in the target product were evaluated for changes in tensile properties of cellular injection-molded specimens depending on the foaming ratio and position from the injection gate. The PP and PA66 specimens showed a decrease of tensile modulus and strength of approximately 30% and 17% depending on the foaming ratio, respectively. Also, the tensile strength decreased approximately 26% and 17% depending on the position from the injection gate, respectively. As a result, it was confirmed that the PP specimens have a significantly mechanical property degradation compared to the PA66 specimens depending on the foaming ratio and position.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.70-75
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• 2010

This study intends to investigate the weldability and mechanical characteristics of butt weld joints by LAFSW for dissimilar materials (Al6061-T6 and SS400). At optimum welding conditions, the tensile strength of dissimilar materials joints made by FSW is found to be lower than that of LAFSW. Due to the increase in plastic flow and formation of finer recrystallized grains at the TMAZ and SZ by laser preheating in LAFSW, the hardness in LAFSW appeared to be higher than that of FSW. Compared with FSW, finer grain size is observed and elongated grains in parent metal are deformed in the same direction around the nugget zone in TMAZ of Al6061-T6 by LAFSW. Whereas, at weld nugget zone, coarse grain size is appeared in LAFSW compared to FSW, which is owing to more plastic flow due to laser preheating effect. In dissimilar materials joints by LAFSW, ductile mode of fracture is found to occur at Al6061 side with fewer brittle particles. Mixed mode of cleavage area and ductile fracture is observed at SS400 side.