Proceedings of the
World Congress on Micro and Nano Manufacturing (WCMNM 2022 )
19–22 September 2022, Lueven, Belgium
doi:10.3850/978-981-18-5180-3_RP13-0067
Injection Compression Molding of Nanostructures from Direct Structured PVD Hard Coatings
1University of Stuttgart, Faculty 7 – Engineering Design, Production Engineering and Automotive Engineering, Institute for Micro Integration (IFM), Allmandring 9b, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
2Hahn-Schickard, Allmandring 9b, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
ABSTRACT
PVD hard coatings are used in injection molding mainly to prevent wear but can also be used to adapt the filling or demolding behavior. Aim of this study was to prove the possibility to replicate direct structured PVD hard coatings via injection compression molding. A diamond-like-carbon and a chromium nitride coated mold insert were direct structured by focused ion beam milling with submicron structures. Injection compression molding was used to replicate the structures into optical polymers. Cyclo olefin polymer and polycarbonate were used as molding materials. Atomic force microscope measurements of the molded parts showed that the mold nanostructures could partly be replicated. Different replication performances were found for the investigated PVD hard coating materials and polymers. No deterioration or delamination caused by wear after the molding experiments was found for the hard coatings using SEM imaging.
Keywords: Injection Compression Molding, Polymer Replication, PVD, Hard Coating, DLC, CrN.
1University of Stuttgart, Faculty 7 – Engineering Design, Production Engineering and Automotive Engineering, Institute for Micro Integration (IFM), Allmandring 9b, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
2Hahn-Schickard, Allmandring 9b, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
ABSTRACT
PVD hard coatings are used in injection molding mainly to prevent wear but can also be used to adapt the filling or demolding behavior. Aim of this study was to prove the possibility to replicate direct structured PVD hard coatings via injection compression molding. A diamond-like-carbon and a chromium nitride coated mold insert were direct structured by focused ion beam milling with submicron structures. Injection compression molding was used to replicate the structures into optical polymers. Cyclo olefin polymer and polycarbonate were used as molding materials. Atomic force microscope measurements of the molded parts showed that the mold nanostructures could partly be replicated. Different replication performances were found for the investigated PVD hard coating materials and polymers. No deterioration or delamination caused by wear after the molding experiments was found for the hard coatings using SEM imaging.
Keywords: Injection Compression Molding, Polymer Replication, PVD, Hard Coating, DLC, CrN.
