Micro-mould fabrication for a micro-gear via vacuum casting
โ Scribed by Y. Tang; W.K. Tan; J.Y.H. Fuh; H.T. Loh; Y.S. Wong; S.C.H. Thian; L. Lu
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2007
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 708 KB
- Volume
- 192-193
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0924-0136
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โฆ Synopsis
A micro-mould fabrication method based on vacuum casting was developed and its functionality and reproducibility were demonstrated. The micro-components used in this study were SU-8 photoresist micro-gears fabricated by UV photolithography. These micro-gears served as the master patterns from which silicone rubber micro-mould cavities were fabricated with the use of the vacuum casting technology. The process parameters that had an influence on the quality of the micro-mould cavities were identified and optimised. Using the optimised process parameters resulted in high fidelity silicone rubber micro-mould cavities at high resolutions. Dimensional analysis was carried out using white light interferometry. It was found that all the micro-gear cavities in the micro-moulds were dimensionally accurate and consistent to the master gear, with a dimension deviation less than 3% of the respective dimensions. Micro-casting was also carried out using the silicone rubber moulds. Micro-gears were successfully transferred from the silicone rubber moulds into PU resin and wax pieces under vacuum conditions, thereby demonstrating that the micro-mould fabricated was capable of producing functional micro-parts that were able to replicate micro-features.
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