English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

At the present time, there is a growing interest in additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and their integration into current process chains. In particular, the implementation of AM for tool production in micro injection molding (µ-IM), a well-established process, could introduce many advantages. First of all, AM could avoid the need for the time-consuming and expensive fabrication of molds for small series of customized products. In this work, the feasibility, quality, and reliability of an AM/µ-IM process chain were evaluated by designing and fabricating mold inserts for µ-IM by stereolithography (SLA) technology; the mold inserts were characterized and tested experimentally. The selected geometry is composed of four thin cavities: This particular feature represents an actual challenge for both the SLA and µ-IM perspective due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of the cavity. Two different materials were used for the mold fabrication, showing sharply different performance in terms of endurance limit and cavity degradation. The obtained results confirm that the µ-IM process, exploiting an SLA fabricated mold insert, is feasible but requires great accuracy in material choice, mold design, fabrication, and assembly.

Micro Injection Molding of Thin Cavities Using Stereolithography for Mold Fabrication