• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.202-209
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• 1997

The mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V greatly vary for changes of microstructures. Therefore, when manufacturing components with this material, it is important to understand the influence of process parameters to the resulting microstructures. In the present investgation, it was attempted to relate the process parameters with the microstructures in a hot forged Ti-6Al-4V disk. The investigation was carried out by a rigid thermo-viscoplastic FEM analysis, flow stress measurements and microstructure studies. It was found that the dynamic recrystallization would hardly occur in this material and that variations of strain, strain rate and temperature of several locations in the disk were below the assumed dynamic recrystallization zone. These findings confirmed the experimental obervations that the microstructures in the disk were only deformed without being recrystallized.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.135-142
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• 2009

In the present study replication of microstructured surfaces by microinjection molding was carried out. For a fabrication of mold inserts, nickel microstructures having various characteristic dimensions were fabricated by nickel electroforming onto Si mother microstructures. In addition, reverse nickel microstructures based on the electroformed nickel microstructures were successfully realized by electroforming with passivation process. The fabricated nickel microstructures were used as mold inserts for a replication of microstructured surfaces by microinjection molding. Microinjection molding experiment was carried out under three different processing conditions, which revealed effects of a packing stage and mold wall temperature. The microinjection-molded microstructured surfaces were characterized by using an atomic force microscope (AFM). It was found that mold wall temperature could enhance replication quality resulting in the precise microstructured surfaces.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.30-36
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• 2004

Recently, the lead-time of a product is to be shortened in order to satisfy consumer's demand. It is thus important to reduce the manufacturing time and the cost of 3D-shaped microstructures. Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and devices are usually fabricated by lithography-based methods. Above method is not flexible for the rapid manufacture of 3D-shaped microstructures because it depends on work's experiences and requires excessive cost and time for making many masks. In this paper, the effective laser micrornachining is developed to fabricate UV sensitive polymer microstructures using laser ablation. The proposed process, named by laser microRP, is a very useful method on rapid manufacturing for 3D-shaped microstructures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.157-158
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• 2006

A novel nanofabrication process has been developed using two-photon crosslinking (TPC) for the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) SiCN ceramic microstructures applicable to high functional 3D devices, which can be used in harsh working environments requiring a high temperature, a resistance to chemical corrosion, as well as tribological properties. After sequential processes: TPC and pyrolysis, 3D ceramic microstructures are obtained. However, large shrinkage due to low-ceramic yield during the pyrolysis is a serious problem to be solved in the precise fabrication of 3D ceramic microstructures. In this work, silica nanoparticles were employed as a filler to reduce the amount of shrinkage. In particular, the ceramic microstructures containing 40 wt% silica nanoparticles exhibited relatively isotropic shrinkage owing to its sliding free from the substrate during pyrolysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.119-127
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• 2007

Recently, microstructures fabricated using microstereolithography technology have been used in the biological, medical and mechanical fields. Microstereolithography can fabricate real 3D microstructures with fine features, although there is presently a limited number of materials available for use in the process. Deformation of the fine features on a fabricated microstructure remains a critical issue for successful part fabrication, and part deformation can occur during rinsing or during fabrication as a result of fluid flow forces that occur during movement of mechanical parts of the system. Deformation can result in failure to fabricate a particular feature by breaking the feature completely, spatial deflection of the feature, or attaching the feature to neighboring microstructures. To improve mechanical strength of fabricated microstructures, a clay nanocomposite can be used. In particular, a high-aspect ratio microstructure can be fabricated without distortion using photocurable liquid resin containing a clay nanocomposite. In this paper, a clay nanocomposite was blended with a photocurable liquid resin to solve the deformation problem that occurs during fabrication and rinsing. An optimal mixture ratio of a clay nanocomposite was found through tensile testing and the minimal allowable distance between microstructures was found through fabrication experimentation. Finally, using these results, high-aspect ratio microstructures were fabricated using a clay nanocomposite resin without distortion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.859-866
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• 2010

In this study, microinjection molding process using the newly developed micromold system, namely modularized and sectioned micromold system (MSMS), has been carried out for a replication of multi-level microstructures. The present MSMS consisted of several micromold modules, each having cross-sectional microstructures on the top surface. The micromold modules were precisely fabricated by deep X-ray lithography and subsequent nickel electroforming. By assembling the micromold modules, an MSMS having multi-level microstructures, which could be used as a mold system in micromolding processes, was obtained. In this manner, polymeric multi-level microstructures, such as the triangular prism microstructures on a stepped surface, were successfully replicated by the microinjection molding process.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.148-152
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• 2006

This paper describes the fabrication of SiCN microstructures for super-high temperature MEMS using photopolymerization of pre-ceramic polymer. In this work, polysilazane liquide as a precursor was deposited on Si wafers by spin coating, microstructured and solidificated by UV lithography, and removed from the substrate. The resulting solid polymer microstructures were cross-linked under HIP process and pyrolyzed to form a ceramic of withstanding over $1400^{\circ}C$. Finally, the fabricated SiCN microstructures were annealed at $1400^{\circ}C$ in a nitrogen atmosphere. Mechanical characteristics of the SiCN microstructure with different fabrication process conditions were evaluated. The elastic modules, hardness and tensile strength of the SiC microstructure implemented under optimum process condtions are 94.5 GPa, 10.5 GPa and 11.7 N/min, respectively. Consequently, the SiCN microstructure proposed in this work is very suitable for super-high temperature MEMS application due to very simple fabrication process and the potential possiblity of sophisticated mulitlayer or 3D microstructures as well as its good mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.11 s.188
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• pp.116-125
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• 2006

MEMS and LIGA technologies have been used for fabricating microstructures, but their shape is not 3D because of difficulty for preparation of many masks. To fabricate 3D microstructures, microstereolithography technology based on Digital Micromirror Device($DMD^{TM}$) was introduced. It has no need of masks and is capable of fabricating high aspect ratio microstructures. In this technology, STL file is the standard format as the same of conventional rapid prototyping system, and 3D parts are fabricated by layer-by-layer according to 2D section sliced from STL file. The UV light source is illuminated to DMD which makes bitmap images of 2D section, and they are transferred and focused on resin surface. In this paper, we addressed optical design of microstereolithography system in consideration of light path according to DMD operation and image-forming on the resin surface using optical design program. To verify the performance of implemented microstereolithography system, 3D microstructures with complexity and high aspect ratio were fabricated.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.2094-2104
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• 2006

As demands for complex microstructures with high aspect ratios have increased, the existing methods, MEMS and LIGA, have had difficulties coping with the number of masks and fabricable heights. A microstereolithography technology can meet these demands because it has no need of masks and is capable of fabricating high aspect ratio microstructures. In this technology, 3D part is fabricated by stacking layers, 2D sections, which are sliced from STL file, and the Dynamic Image Projection process enables the resin surface to be cured by a dynamic image generated with $DMD^{TM}$ (Digital Micromirror Device) and one irradiation. In this paper, we address optical design process for implementing this microstereolithography system that takes the light path based on DMD operation and image-formation on the resin surface using an optical design program into consideration. To verify the performance of this implemented microstereolithography system, complex 3D microstructures with high aspect ratios were fabricated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.136-142
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• 2007

Precise fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) self-standing microstructures on thin glass plates via two-photon induced polymerization (TPP) has been an important issue for innovative 3D nanodevices and microdevices. However, there are still issues remaining to be solved, such as building 3D microstructures on opaque materials via TPP and being able to implant them as functional parts onto practical systems. To settle these issues simply and effectively, we propose a contact print lithography (CPL) method using an ultraviolet (UV)-curable polymer layer. We report some of the possibilities and potential of CPL by presenting our results for transplanting 3D microstructures onto large-area substrates and also our examination of some of the effects of the process parameters on successful transplantation.