• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.224-229
• /
• 2016

Recently, polymeric micro-fluidic biochips with numerous micro patterns on the surface were fabricated by injection molding for realizing low-cost mass production of devices. To evaluate the effects of process parameters on large-scale micro-structure replication, a $50{\times}50mm^2$ tool insert with surface structures having a patterns of trapezoidal shapes (height: $30{\mu}m$) was employed. During injection molding, PMMA was used; packing phase parameters and mold temperature were investigated. The replicated surface textures were quantitatively characterized by confocal laser microscopy with 10-nm resolution. The degree of replication at low mold temperatures was found to be higher than that at high mold temperature at the beginning of the packing stage. Thereafter, the degree of replication increased to a greater extent at higher mold temperatures; application of higher mold temperatures improved the degree of replication.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2014

The injection molding process has several advantages enabling it to produce large quantities of molded plastic products using a repetitive process. In recent years, it has been necessary to develop an injection molding process with micro/nano-sized patterns for application to the semiconductor industry and to the bio/nano manufacturing industry. In this study, we apply gas pressure to the inside of a mold and consider the gas dissolution phenomenon for a resin filling into a micro pattern with a line structure. Using numerical analysis, we calculate the filling ratio with respect to time for various internal gas pressures and various aspect ratios of the micro-patterns.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.267-272
• /
• 2002

The production of micro components is one of the leading technologies in the fields of information and communiation, medical and biotechnology, and micro sensor and micro actuator system. Microfabrication (micromachining) techniques such as X-ray lithography, electroforming, micromolding and excimer laser ablation are used for the production of micro components out of silicon, polymer and a limited number of pure metals or binary alloys. However, since the first development of microfabrication technologies there have been demands for the cost-effective replication in large scale series as well as the extended range of available material. One such promising process is micro powder injection molding (PIM), which inherits the advantages of the conventional PIM technology, such as low production cost, shape complexity, applicability to many materials, applicability to many materials, and good tolerance. This paper reports on a fundamental investigation of the application of W-Cu powder to micro metal injection molding (MIM), especially in view of achieving a good filling and a safe removal of a micro mold conducted in the experiment. It is absolutely legitimate and meaningful, at the present state of the technique, to continue developing the micro MIM towards production processes for micro components.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.1 s.190
• /
• pp.47-56
• /
• 2007

Recently, demands on mechanical micro machining technology have been increased in manufacturing of micro-scale precision shapes and parts. The main purpose of this research is to verify the accuracy and cost efficiency of the mechanical micro machining. In order to measure the precision and feasibility of mechanical micro machining, various micro features were machined. Aluminum molds were machined by a 3-axis micro stage in order to fabricate microchips with $200{\mu}m$ wide channel for capillary electrophoresis, then the same geometry of microchip was made by injection molding. To evaluate the cost efficiency of various micro manufacturing processes, cost estimation for mechanical micro machining was conducted, and actual costs of microchips fabricated by mechanical micro machining, injection molding, and MEMS (Micro electro mechanical system) were compared.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.14 no.6 s.78
• /
• pp.491-495
• /
• 2005

Micro injection molding analysis for microneedle fabrication was performed in the present study. The dimensions of width and thickness for in-plane microneedle are $600{\mu}m$, $500{\mu}m$, respectively. A delivery system based on guidelines for traditional injection molding was designed for four-cavities molding system. To investigate the effects of processing conditions in the mirconeedle fabrication, injection molding analysis using commercial code was performed. It was shown that the total injection time has a significant effect on the fabrication of in-plane microneedles.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.14-20
• /
• 2015

Molding technologies for plastic microstructures have been extensively investigated during the last two decades, and theoretical and numerical studies on the micro molding process have provided efficient tools for the development of such molding technologies. In this paper, we present a review of numerical simulation methods for the micro molding process. Basic models for a description of the material property, governing equations of the flow and heat transfer during the molding process, and numerical methods will be described. Particularly, numerical simulations for micro injection molding and hot embossing processes will be presented, and their main features noted and compared to those for conventional molding processes.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.11-16
• /
• 2011

Recently, according to the rapid development of display, many display applications, such as, cellular phone, navigation, monitor and LCD TV have been changed from CRT type to LCD type. BLU(Back Light Unit) is one of main parts in LCD unit and generally, it consists of a light source, a reflective sheet, a LGP(Light Guide Plate), a diffuser sheet, and two prism sheets. The most important component of BLU is a light guide plate, which diffuses the input light to the TFT-LCD module uniformly. The LGP is usually made by injection molding process, and it has numerous optical micro patterns on the surface. In the present study the micro-patterned stamper which has cylindrical shape was fabricated by using the UV-LiGA process. And the replication characteristics have been compared among three different kinds of injection molding process; general injection molding, injection/compression molding and RHCM(Rapid Heating and Cooling Molding). Average replication ratios of CIM and ICM were 19.1% and 64.6%, respectively. On the other hand, the average replication ratio of RHCM process showed the higher value of 98.4% among these. It show that maintaining the mold surface above $T_g$ could increase the replication ratio of micro patterns substantially.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.126-130
• /
• 2012

Accurate optical texturing of light guide plate over the entire surface area is an important technical issue in LCD TV industry. Injection molding process has the potential to produce large light guide plates having highly efficient optical textures such as micro-prism array. This study is focused on the effect of the degree of replication of the micro texture of the 40" injection molded light guide plates on the overall optical performance of the display panel. Measured replication ratios of the micro-textures formed with three different types of injection molding process were considered in the modeling of prismatic micro segment array. Optical simulation was conducted and results were discussed.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.191-196
• /
• 2010

Tungsten-carbide as typical difficult-to-cut material has excellent mechanical properties such as high thermal resistivity, mechanical strength and chemical durability. However, it is next to impossible for tungsten-carbide to be fabricated the needed parts by cutting process. In this study, for establishing the micro fabrication method of tungsten-carbide for micro injection or compression molding core, the investigation on micro cutting characteristics of tungsten-carbide green part which is made by powder injection molding process and easy to cut relatively was performed. For this, micro endmilling experiments of tungsten-carbide green part were performed according to various cutting conditions. Finally, the wear trend of micro endmill and the appearance of micro rib according to feed-rate and cutting depth per step were analyzed through SEM images of micro cutting feature and microscope images of micro tools.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2008.06a
• /
• pp.585-586
• /
• 2008