Investigations into Fundamentals and Forming System Design for Micro-Tube Expansion with Pressurized Media

Abstract

This paper presents investigations of an expansion process for the manufacturing of hollow shaped polymeric micro-components and provides first fundamentals for applications. The forming principle of the developed process is based on the inner pressurization of a heated micro-tube within a die cavity. In a first step, experimental trials were conducted with a test device for free expansion to investigate the formability of polymeric micro tubes. PA6 and PET with an outer diameter 630-1340 μm were investigated. Based on the free expansion results obtained, demonstrator micro-components were designed to investigate the requirements for suitable tool design in the manufacture of polymeric micro hollow components. The demonstrators were of polymeric micro tubes, PA6 and PET with outer diameter of 1340 μm and wall thickness of 170 μm