doi:10.3850/978-981-07-0319-6_202

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work is to develop a new process chain for high precision replication of micro-features in thermoplastic materials. The paper reports on a manufacturing chain to produce micro-structured metallic mould inserts by powder injection moulding. It consists in preparing a polymer-metallic powder mixture (a.k.a. feedstock) followed by injection moulding in standard micro-structured cavities produced by EDM. The resulting injected micro-structured inserts are then debinded and sintered to get the required mechanical properties to be used for embossing of micro-structured devices in polymer. This paper describes the production and characterization of the metallic-polymer feedstocks, and the injection moulding process. The technology to produce the cavities is reported, and the replication capabilities in powder injection moulding (PIM) are assessed. The paper demonstrates that such a process could be used to get high accuracy micro-structured metallic mould cavities to be used for polymer replication processes.

Keywords: Injection moulding process, Feedstocks, Rheology, Micro-structured cavities.

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