Micro Engineering: Experiments conducted on the use of polymeric materials in micro injection moulding

To advance micro injection moulding it is necessary to study systematically the factors affecting process and tooling reliability. This paper reviews the main findings of Cardiff Universities 4M and SEMOFS research in this field. In particular, the factors affecting the manufacturability of micro parts with the micro injection moulding process is examined, and solutions are proposed to broaden its application. These include: Investigations into the process factors affecting aspect ratios achievable and replication quality, moulding of prototype micro fluidic components, hybrid tooling technologies for the manufacturing of inserts, the finite element analysis of melt flow behaviour in micro injection moulding, and a dissemination of an all polymer microfluidic system.