Development of a micro annular gear pump by micro powder injection molding

摘要

Scaling down devices from the macroscopic world to microsystems presents various problems since tolerances decrease down to the range of the surface roughness. Consequently, the problems assembling such systems increase and any wear has an extreme impact on the function of microsystems. Recently, most microparts are made of thermoplastics or in brittle materials like silicon by deep etching. The mechanical properties of these materials, however, are not favorable for microparts subjected to mechanical wear. To meet the obvious demand for wear resistant microparts made of metals and ceramics, the development of Micro-Metal Injection Molding (Micro-MIM)/Micro-Ceramic Injection Molding (Micro-CIM) was started at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe a few years ago. The article describes special distinctions between Micro-Powder Injection Molding (μ-PIM) and normal PIM as well as the arising process variations.