Gate design in injection molding of microfluidic components using process simulations

摘要

Just as in conventional injection molding of plastics, process simulations are an effective tool in the area of micro injection molding. They are applied in order to optimize and aid the design of the micro plastic part, the mold and the actual process. Available simulation software is actually made for macroscopic injection molding, but by means of the correct implementation and modelling strategy it can also be applied to micro plastic parts, as it is shown in the presented work. Process simulations are applied to two microfluidic devices (a micro distributor and a micro mixer) which shall be manufactured by micro injection molding. One of the main goals of the simulations is the investigation of the filling of the parts. Great emphasis is also on the optimization of selected gate designs for both parts which was successfully carried out. The paper describes how the two devices were meshed in the simulations software to obtain a proper simulation model and where the challenges arose. Subsequently, the simulation results are used to answer the question which gate design is the most appropriate with regard to the process window, polymer flow, and part quality. Finally, the limitations of the simulation results are critically discussed and possible improvements are described.