On the injection molding of nanostructured polymer surfaces

Well‐defined nano‐topographies were prepared by electron‐beam lithography and electroplated to form nickel‐shims. The surface pattern consisted of square pillars repeated equidistantly within the plane of the surface in a perpendicular arrangement. The width and distance between the squares both ranged from 310 to 3100 nm. All the pillars were 220 nm high. The nickel‐shim was used as a surface‐template during injection molding of polycarbonate. Secondly, a nickel shim, with a surface pattern consisted of a squared sine with a period of 700 nm and amplitude of 450 nm, was mounted on, and it was in good thermal contact with the upper plate in a hot‐press. Polycarbonate/polystyrene was melted on the lower plate while the temperature of the shim was kept below the glass transition temperature. The upper plate was lowered until the shim was in contact with the melt. Experiments were carried out with a clean shim and a shim coated with a monolayer of fluorocarbonsilane. As a result of the surface coating, the amplitude of the replicated grating decreased from about 350 nm in polycarbonate and 100 nm in polystyrene to less than 10 nm. The experiments strongly suggest that the possibility to injection mold sub‐micrometer surface structures in polymers mainly relates to adhesive energy between polymer and shim. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:160–171, 2006. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

The development and characterization of polymer microinjection molded gratings

Ruled diffraction gratings were fabricated via injection micromolding and characterized via atomic force and scanning‐electron microscopy. A unique aspect of this study was the utilization of commercially available optical grating as the injection molding tooling. After depositing a reflective aluminum (Al) coating with 150 and 250 nm thickness onto the untreated polymer replicas, diffracted power profiles of the polymer gratings were compared with that of the mold. It was found that both the mold and nozzle temperatures, T_mold and T_noz, respectively, are important parameters influencing the fidelity of replication. Statistical analysis, however, revealed that the cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) replicated well the microtopography of the mold but did not replicate properly (within ～20 nm) the nanotopography formed by the Al grains. Grain size quantification revealed that the Al coating with 150‐nm thickness had smaller grains than that with the 250‐nm coating. Furthermore, testing of delamination of the reflective coatings revealed good adhesion between the COC and Al interface. Lastly, photoelasticity measurements showed stress levels only around the gate of the molded components, suggesting that COCs are excellent materials for optical applications. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

The effect of copper alloy mold tooling on the performance of the injection molding process

The performance of copper alloy mold tool materials in injection molding has been examined with respect to cycle time, part quality and energy consumption using in‐process monitoring techniques. A mold insert manufactured from conventional tool steel was compared to four identical inserts made from beryllium‐free copper alloys with copper contents ranging from 85 to 96%. Injection molding trials using high density polyethylene and polybutyl terepthalate were performed using a highly instrumented injection molding machine. Results showed that copper alloy mold tools exhibited cooling rates up to 29% faster than conventional tool steel and that cooling rate was related to thermal conductivity of the alloy. Lower cycle times were achievable with copper alloy than for tool steel before part quality deterioration occurred. The results suggest that copper alloy tooling has the potential to achieve significant reductions in cycle time without detriment to the process or product quality. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of rapid mold surface inducting heating on the replication ability of microinjection molding light‐guided plates with V‐grooved microfeatures

This study applies a magnetic induction heating method for rapid and uniform heating of a mold surface for injection molding of 2‐inch light‐guided plates (LGPs). Mold temperature is an important process parameter that affects microinjection molding quality. This research investigates the effects of high‐mold surface temperature generated by induction heating in enhancing the replication rate of microfeatures of LGPs. This study has three stages. First, an appropriate power rate setting is determined for induction heating and injection molding process window. Second, all key parameters affecting microfeature quality are identified to determine the optimum LGP micromolding parameters using the Taguchi and ANOVA methods. Third, the quality of microfeature heights and angles are experimentally verified. Polymethyl methacrylate was molded under various injection molding conditions to replicate an electroformed nickel stamper with V‐grooves 10 μm in width and 5 μm in depth. In this investigation, injection speed was set in the conventional range. Experimental findings indicate that instead of high‐mold temperature, the combination of low mold temperature and high surface temperature obtained using induction heating improve replication quality and reduce cycle time. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

High‐frequency proximity heating for injection molding applications

High‐frequency proximity heating was used to rapidly heat injection molds. The principle is based on the proximity effect between a pair of mold inserts facing each other with a small gap and forming a high‐frequency electric loop. Because of the proximity effect, the high‐frequency current will flow at the inner surfaces of the facing pair, thus selectively heating the mold surface. With this method, the electrical insulation layer beneath the mold surface can be eliminated, resulting in a mold insert made of a single metal. A mold with a cavity of 25 × 50 mm² was constructed with careful design on its electrical, structural, and thermal performance. Air pockets with reinforcing ribs were embedded right beneath the mold surface for enhancing the heating performance. The resulting mold cavity can be rapidly heated from room temperature to about 240°C in 5 s with an apparent heating power of 93 W/cm². The new mold heating method was applied to thin‐wall molding and micromolding, and in all testing cases, short cycle times less than a minute were achieved. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:938–945, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Experimental investigation and numerical simulation of injection molding with micro‐features

Injection molding of thin plates of micro sized features was studied in order to manufacture micro‐fluidic devices for bioMEMS applications. Various types of mold inserts—CNC‐machined steel, epoxy photoresist, and photolithography and electroplating produced nickel molds—were fabricated and tested in injection molding. The feature size covers a range of 5 microns to several hundred microns. Issues such as surface roughness and sidewall draft angle of the mold insert were considered. Two optically clear thermoplastics, PMMA and optical quality polycarbonate, were processed at different mold and melt temperatures, injection speeds, shot sizes, and holding pressures. It was found that the injection speed and mold temperature in injection molding greatly affect the replication accuracy of microstructures on the metal mold inserts. The UV‐LIGA produced nickel mold with positive draft angles enabled successful demolding. Numerical simulation based on the 2D software C‐MOLD was performed on two types of cavity fillings: the radial flow and the undirectional flow. The simulation and experimental data were compared, showing correct qualitative predictions but discrepancies in the flow front profile and filled depth.     

Kneading and molding of ceramic microparts by precision powder injection molding (PIM)

This paper investigates the kneading and formability of microparts made using alumina in micro‐powder injection molding. In this study, quality feedstock with uniform powder dispersion was achieved when optimum kneading process was performed. In addition, the thin microplates were successfully manufactured using a custom‐made injection machine. Shrinkage was significantly reduced in microspecimens when the mold temperature was increased to 70°C. The results of flow visualization were conformed to that of experiments in this study. A very important result for flow visualization and experiment was molten polymer filled the cavity by shortest period producing a least shrinkage in microparts. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 892–899, 2006     

用原塑料制件为模芯电铸注塑模型腔工艺

介绍了用原料塑料制件为模芯电铸注塑模腔的方法和工艺。用这种方法制造注塑模型腔，具有仿真度高，经济效益好，生产效率高的优点，是一种值得推广的制模方法。     

Evaluation of processing effects in injection‐molded amorphous and crystalline thermoplastics using an excimer laser

The ablation behavior of amorphous [polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC)] and crystalline [PET, glass‐filled poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)] polymers by 248‐nm KrF excimer laser irradiation were investigated for different injection‐molding conditions, namely, injection flow rate, injection pressure, and mold temperature, as a possible method for evaluating processing effects in the specimens. For this purpose, dumbbell‐shaped samples were injection‐molded under different sets of processing conditions, and weight loss measurements were carried out for the different injection‐molding conditions. Some of the crystalline (PET) samples were annealed at different annealing times and temperatures. For PET, the weight loss decreased with increasing mold temperature and remained insensitive to injection flow rate. Annealing time and temperature significantly reduced weight loss in PET. For PBT, the weight loss due to laser ablation decreased with increasing material packing due to pressure, and it also showed some sensitivity to flow rate variation. The major effect was seen with glass‐filled PBT samples. The weight loss decreased drastically with increasing glass fiber content. Laser ablation allowed us to observe process‐induced fiber orientation by scanning electron microscopy in PBT samples. For PS and PC, the weight loss increased with increasing injection flow rate and mold temperature and decreased with increasing injection pressure. The position near the gate showed higher ablation than the position at the end for all the conditions. A decrease in the material orientation with injection speed and mold temperature led to an increase in the weight loss, whereas an increase in the injection pressure, and consequently orientation, led to a lower weight loss for PS and PC. Higher residual stress samples showed higher weight losses. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2006     

Development of resin transfer molding process using scaling down strategy

The virtually developed resin transfer molding (RTM) manufacturing process for the large and complex composite part can be validated easily with the trial experiments on the scaled down mold. The scaling down strategy was developed using Darcy's law from the comparisons of mold fill time and mold fill pattern between full‐scale product and scaled down prototype. From the analysis, it was found that the injection pressure used in the scaled down mold should be the full‐scale injection pressure by the times of square of geometrical scale down factor, provided the identical injection strategy and raw material parameters were applied on both the scales. In this work, the RTM process was developed using process simulations for a large and complex high‐speed train cab front and it was validated by conducting experiments using a geometrically scaled down mold. The injection pressure as per the scaling down strategy was imposed on the scale downed high‐speed train cab front mold and a very close agreement was observed between the flow fronts of experimental and simulated results, which validates the scaling down strategy and the virtually developed RTM process for the full‐scale product. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1683–1689, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Simulation of a mold‐cooling process for gas‐assisted injection molded parts designed with a top rib on the gas channel

The same CAE model used for the filling and packing stage in the gas‐assisted injection molding (GAIM) process simulation was also applied to simulate the cooling phase. This was made possible by using the line source method for modeling cooling channels. The cycle‐averaged and cyclic transient mold cavity surface temperature distribution within a steady cycle was calculated using the three‐dimensional modified boundary element technique similar to that used in conventional injection molding. The analysis results for GAIM plates of a semicircular gas channel design attached with a top rib are illustrated and discussed. It was found that the difference in cycle‐averaged mold wall temperatures may be as high as 10°C, and within a steady cycle, part temperatures may also vary by about 15°C. The conversion of the gas channel into equivalent circular pipe and further simplification into two‐node elements using the line source method not only affects the mold wall temperature calculation very slightly but also reduces the computer time by 93%. This indicates that it is feasible to achieve an integrated process simulation for GAIM under one CAE model, resulting in great computational efficiency for industrial application.     

Effects of injection‐molding conditions on the gloss and color of pigmented polypropylene

The effects of processing conditions on appearance characteristics of injection‐molded mineral‐filled polypropylene (compounded with pigments giving differing intensities of a beige color) have been studied; characteristics studied included gloss, color, and texture. A mold cavity embossed with smooth, fine, and coarse surface patterns was used. In‐mold rheology and gate‐seal analysis were used to select the filling and postfilling processing parameters. Interest was focused on the effects of filling rate, holding pressure, and mold temperature on the appearance characteristics, and a significant influence of these processing conditions on the gloss and color was found. For all the surface patterns examined, a better replication of the mold texture was obtained with a low melt viscosity at a high shear rate (high injection speed or short injection time) and a high mold temperature. This gave a higher gloss in the smooth surface regions and a lower gloss in the textured regions. An increase in the holding pressure had an effect similar to but smaller than increasing the filling rate or mold temperature. The gloss (or surface topography) had a significant effect on the color; an increase in gloss was associated with an increase in the color coordinate b* and a decrease in the lightness L*. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 45:1557–1567, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Determination of the heat transfer coefficient from short‐shots studies and precise simulation of microinjection molding

The filling process of a micro‐cavity was analyzed by modeling the compressible filling stage by using pressure‐dependent viscosity and adjusted heat transfer coefficients. Experimental filling studies were carried out at the same time on an accurately controlled microinjection molding machine. On the basis of the relationship between the injection pressure and the filling degree, essential factors for the quality of the simulation can be identified. It can be shown that the flow behavior of the melt in a micro‐cavity with a high aspect ratio is extremely dependent on the melt compressibility in the injection cylinder. This phenomenon needs to be considered in the simulation to predict an accurate flow rate. The heat transfer coefficient between the melt and the mold wall that was determined by the reverse engineering varies significantly even during the filling stage. With increasing injection speed and increasing cavity thickness, the heat transfer coefficient decreases. It is believed that the level of the cavity pressure is responsible for the resulting heat transfer between the polymer and the mold. A pressure‐dependent model for the heat transfer coefficient would be able to significantly improve the quality of the process simulation. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Numerical Simulation for Effects of Injection Mold Cooling on Warpage and Residual Stresses

Abstract

The dimensions quality of the injection‐molded parts is the result of a complex combination of material, part, and mold designs and process conditions. In this article, warpage prediction relies on the calculation of residual stresses developed during the molding process. The solidification of a molten thermoplastic between cooled parallel plates is used to model the mechanics of part warp in the injection‐molding process. Flow effects are neglected, and a thermorheologically simple thermoviscoelastic material model is assumed. The warp and residual stresses numerical simulation with finite element method (FEM) is time dependent. At each time step, the material properties can be temperature and pressure dependent. Mold temperature or mold‐cooling rate effects on part warp have been numerically predicted and compared with experimental results. By showing the mold‐cooling effects, it was concluded that mold cooling has a significant effect on part warpage, and mold‐cooling parameters, such as mold temperature, resin temperature, cooling channels, etc., should be set carefully.     

A temperature‐dependent adaptive controller. Part I: Controller methodology and open‐loop testing

Currently, the controllers for achieving a desired injection velocity setpoint profile are independent of processing conditions in plastic injection molding. The dynamics of the reciprocating screw during injection mold filling is complex and temperature‐dependent. This complexity is based on process parameters that are nonlinear, which can vary spatially in time. Open‐loop tests were performed on two polymers at three melt temperatures and three mold‐fill velocity regimes: low, medium, and high. These tests were based on close‐loop injection mold‐fill setpoints and a derived voltage velocity relationship for the injection velocity hydraulic valve. The results of the open‐loop tests show that mold‐filling injection velocity is polymer‐ and melt temperature‐dependent. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:1925–1933, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Thin‐wall injection molding of polypropylene using molds with different laser‐induced periodic surface structures

In injection molding, high pressure is required to completely replicate the mold geometry, due to the viscosity of thermoplastic polymers, the reduced thickness of the cavity, and the low mold temperature. The reduction of the drag required to fill a thin‐wall injection molding cavity can be promoted by inducing the strong slip of the polymer melt over the mold surface, which occurs within the first monolayer of macromolecules adsorbed at the wall. In this work, the effects of different laser‐induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) topographies on the reduction of the melt flow resistance of polypropylene were characterized. Ultrafast laser processing of the mold surface was used to manufacture nano‐scale ripples with different orientation and morphology. Moreover, the effects of those injection molding parameters that mostly affect the interaction between the mold surface and the molten polymer were evaluated. The effect of LIPSS on the slip of the polymer melt was modeled to understand the effect of the different treatments on the pressure required to fill the thin‐wall cavity. The results show that LIPPS can be used to treat injection mold surfaces to promote the onset of wall slip, thus reducing the injection pressure up to 13%. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:1889–1896, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of molecular weight and molding conditions on the replication of injection moldings with micro‐scale v‐groove features

Injection molded optical plastic parts require accurate replication of micro‐scale features. The effects of melt viscosity and molding conditions on replication of microscopic v‐groove features in injection molded parts were examined for PC with different molecular weight. The micro‐scale feature size was a continuous v‐groove with 20 μm in depth and 50 μm in width. For injection molding conditions, melt temperature, mold temperature, injection velocity and holding pressure were varied in three levels. As the result, the mold temperature had significantly affected replication for all polymers with different molecular weight. Additionally, the molding conditions that lower melt viscosity led to improved replication. In the case of polymer with high molecular weight, the viscosity decreased with increasing melt temperature. It has been found that high replication of micro‐scale features could be achieved by higher mold temperature and higher melt temperature even with high viscosity PC. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Replications and analysis of microlens array fabricated by a modified LIGA process

Microlens arrays were fabricated using a modified LIGA process based on the exposure of a PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) sheet to deep X‐rays from the synchrotron of PAL (Pohang Accelerator Laboratory) and a subsequent thermal treatment. A successful physical modeling and analyses for microlens formation were reviewed according to the experimental procedure of the modified LIGA process based on our previous study. A metallic nickel mold insert for the replication of microlens arrays was successfully fabricated by the nickel electroforming process on the PMMA microlens arrays fabricated by the modified LIGA process. For the replication of microlens arrays having various diameters with different foci on the same surface, the hot embossing and the microinjection molding processes have been successfully utilized with the nickel mold insert. The scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope measurements showed that replicated microlenses have good surface quality with the surface roughness of the order of 1 nm. The injection‐molded microlens arrays were also found to have very small birefringence. Finally, the focal lengths of the injection‐molded microlenses were successfully measured experimentally and also estimated theoretically. The replicated microlens arrays with the good surface quality could be applied to various optical applications that require microlens arrays having the different foci on the same surface. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:416–425, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of machine compliance on mold deflection during injection and packing of thermoplastic parts

Minimizing mold deflection is essential when manufacturing plastic parts to tight tolerances. Both the mold and the machine are compliant and deform upon loading, which can affect the part quality. Therefore, understanding mold deflection during injection molding is critical for determining the final geometry of the part. It is also critical for secondary processes such as the in‐mold coating process. This article presents work in quantifying both mold deflection during an injection‐molding cycle and the effect of machine compliance on mold behavior. The mold cavity pressure obtained using MoldFlow? was used as input for the subsequent finite element mold deflection analysis. Two different structural models were used: the first model included only the mold, the mold base units and the ejector platen; the second model included the effect of the injection‐molding machine compliance. To validate the model, strain gage rosettes were placed on the mold and the machine. Validating experiments were conducted using process parameters identical to those used in the simulations. A comparison of the experimental and simulation results for both models is presented. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:844–852, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers     

蒸汽加热模具及模具变温辅助控制装置的研制

对高光无痕注射成型工艺的成型装置和辅助控制系统进行了研究和开发,介绍了蒸汽加热注射成型工艺原理。通过辅助系统来控制蒸汽加热模具的型腔温度,特殊的水道设计使模具型腔的温度能够迅速升至熔体的热变形温度以上,进而获得高光表面制品。同时指出了蒸汽加热模具在模具材料的选择、测温点的分布等方面的设计思想,阐述了辅助控制装置的组成部分及控制原理。结果表明,蒸汽加热模具可加工高表面光洁度、无熔接痕、无流痕的塑料制品,可免除后续喷涂工艺,降低了生产成本,成型周期由120 s 缩短到43 s。