Micro powder injection molding: process characterization and modeling

The development of a new simulation tool for micro powder injection molding (MicroPIM) needs experimental material data and verification experiments to describe the process correctly. A new and innovative approach is to use dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to describe the form filling process with respect to the interactions on a mesoscopic scale (Hoogerbrugge and Koelman in Europhys Lett 19(1):155-160, 1992). The individual parameters that enter DPD modeling of this process have to be adjusted using specially designed experiments for the injection molding process. The material properties in the standard injection molding process are primarily determined by the bulk material. In micro dimensions surface effects begin to dominate because of the large surface to volume ratio. Therefore, the surface interactions between feedstock and mold insert were studied. Finally, first observations of the injection molding experiments are shown and qualitatively compared to DPD simulation results.