Abstract
Ultrasonic molding is a new technology for processing small and micro polymeric components with reasonable cost and energy savings when small and medium batch sizes are required. However, when microcomponents are manufactured, the replicability of different micro features has to be guaranteed. The aim is to investigate the capability of ultrasonic molding technology for processing thin-wall plates of polystyrene with a microchannel, analyzing the filling behavior, the optical transparency, and the dimensional accuracy of the thin plate. The replicability of the manufactured microchannel is studied according to dimension and shape. The results reveal that plunger velocity influences transparency and filling cavity, whereas the vibration amplitude has less effect in both cases. The thickness deviation achieved on the final part is below 7% and the replication of the microchannel is better in depth than width, obtaining an average deviation of 4% and 11%, respectively. This replication also depends on the orientation of the microchannels and the distance from the injection gate. The replicability and repeatability for processing thin-wall plates with microchannel in polystyrene polymer are proved in this paper.
Highlights
In recent years, the use of polymer materials in industry has increased notably, with sectors such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), aeronautics, and biomedicine slightly influenced by this trend
The cooling time used in the experiment was not enough to guarantee final cooling of the polymer, the parts seemed complete when the mold opened. This cooling time was taken from the microinjection molding process; these results reveal that the melting temperature in ultrasonic molding becomes higher than in microinjection molding
Thin-wall plates with polystyrene microchannels were successfully manufactured by ultrasonic molding technology
Summary
The use of polymer materials in industry has increased notably, with sectors such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), aeronautics, and biomedicine slightly influenced by this trend Some reasons for this strong tendency include the reduced weight of the component, the increment of the complexity of 3D geometries, the trend toward miniaturization of parts, the increment of functionality of products, the high performance requirement of the materials, and the emergence of many new polymers with very different characteristics [1,2]. Miniaturization of mechanical systems and devices leads to the development of microcomponents (such as microgears, microfluidic devices, and micro-optical lenses), small parts with microfeatures of high aspect ratio, or parts having microfeatures pattered on the surface When processing these miniature polymeric components, injection and microinjection molding are the commonly used manufacturing techniques because of their high productivity, cost-effectiveness, high replicability and repeatability, high capability for producing an extended variety of polymeric components, tight tolerances, and complex shapes [1,3].
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