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_RP14-0072
Investigating the Deviations Between Micro-Injection Molding Experiments and Simulations of Micro-Structured Micro-Optical Components
1Technical University of Denmark, Department of Mechanical Engineering Productiontorvet, Building 427A, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
2CELOPLÁS S.A. – Rua de Sâo Mateus, n° 299, 4775-127 Grimancelos, Portugal
ABSTRACT
Micro-injection molding (µIM) with the highest level of accuracy is a crucial goal for the manufacturing industry as the demand for acquiring small plastic parts unceasingly increases. Simulations for such miniaturized parts however are still under investigation with conventional injection molding (IM) simulation software. Commercially available software solutions are continuously moving towards closing the existing gap between the micro and macro parts simulation capabilities. In this study, the results of simulations of a micro-optical component with micro-lenses are investigated as a case study to understand where the results were different and to hypothesize on how the existing deviations could be further decreased. Short shots moldings were molded with Cyclo Olefin Polymers (COP) Zeonor 1060R using a Wittmann Battenfeld MicroPower 15t µIM machine using a pressure-controlled switch-over point. By using the Moldex3D® IM software, simulations were carried out with the same settings as those implemented during the experiments and the results were compared and analyzed. A difference between the different simulations and samples were observed due to limitations in terms of repeatability of the µIM short shots when molding the single digit milligram mass micro components. These preliminary results show deviations ranging from 9% to 20% between the different filling stages of molded parts with that of the simulation.
Keywords: Modelling, Micro-Injection Molding, Process Simulation, Micro-Lens.
1Technical University of Denmark, Department of Mechanical Engineering Productiontorvet, Building 427A, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
2CELOPLÁS S.A. – Rua de Sâo Mateus, n° 299, 4775-127 Grimancelos, Portugal
ABSTRACT
Micro-injection molding (µIM) with the highest level of accuracy is a crucial goal for the manufacturing industry as the demand for acquiring small plastic parts unceasingly increases. Simulations for such miniaturized parts however are still under investigation with conventional injection molding (IM) simulation software. Commercially available software solutions are continuously moving towards closing the existing gap between the micro and macro parts simulation capabilities. In this study, the results of simulations of a micro-optical component with micro-lenses are investigated as a case study to understand where the results were different and to hypothesize on how the existing deviations could be further decreased. Short shots moldings were molded with Cyclo Olefin Polymers (COP) Zeonor 1060R using a Wittmann Battenfeld MicroPower 15t µIM machine using a pressure-controlled switch-over point. By using the Moldex3D® IM software, simulations were carried out with the same settings as those implemented during the experiments and the results were compared and analyzed. A difference between the different simulations and samples were observed due to limitations in terms of repeatability of the µIM short shots when molding the single digit milligram mass micro components. These preliminary results show deviations ranging from 9% to 20% between the different filling stages of molded parts with that of the simulation.
Keywords: Modelling, Micro-Injection Molding, Process Simulation, Micro-Lens.
