Title: Investigation of the dimensional variation of microstructures through the µMIM process

Authors: G. Fu, S.G. Li, I. Reading, P. Chaturvedi, S.B. Tor, S.F. Yoon, K. Youcef-Toumi

Addresses: Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA), N3.2-01-36, 65 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637460. ' Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA), N3.2-01-36, 65 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637460. ' Precision Measurements Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, 638075 Singapore. ' Precision Measurements Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, 638075 Singapore. ' Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA), N3.2-01-36, 65 Nanyang Drive, 637460, Singapore. ' Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA

Abstract: In this paper, the dimensional variation of the microstructures throughout all the steps of the Micro Metal Injection Moulding (µMIM) process, that is, injection moulding, debinding and sintering, was investigated. The dimensions of the microstructures were measured using a Veeco interferometer. Based on the measured data, global warpage, surface roughness and dimensional shrinkage of the microstructures in different processing steps were compared. Further, a preliminary study on the effect of packing pressure on the three parameters (global warpage, surface roughness and dimensional shrinkage) throughout all the steps of the µMIM process was conducted.

Keywords: micro metal injection moulding; µMIM; dimensional variation; packing pressure; micro MIM; microstructure; injection moulding; debinding; sintering; global warpage; surface roughness; dimensional shrinkage.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2007.017991

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2007 Vol.1 No.6, pp.722 - 735

Published online: 25 Apr 2008 *

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