The effects of tool surface quality in micro-injection moulding

Micro-injection moulding is one of the key technologies for micro-manufacture and is widely used as a cost effective replication method for mass production. The capabilities of this replication technology have to be studied systematically in order to determine the process constraints. In this research, the factors affecting the flow behaviour are discussed. A special attention is paid to the interaction between the melt flow and the tool surface. Three different polymer materials, PP, ABS and PC, were employed to perform moulding tests using cavities with the same geometry but different surface finish. The effects of the tool surface roughness on the melt flow length and part quality were investigated by varying three process parameters, melt and mould temperature, and injection speed.