| Although still considered by most to be in its infancy, the realm of micro/nano injection molding (mu/nIM) is rapidly growing into a feasible manufacturing alternative replacing current expensive integrated circuit type fabrication methods. The muIM process allows affordable low cost mass production of micro components. The majority of studies contributing to the advancement of micro injection molding have included part design, mold making, specialized injection molding machines, 3D flow simulation models, new materials, and assembly methods for micro components.; The present doctoral study of a newly evolving muIM technology has definitely contributed additional academic and technological future growth. Along the way, new findings were publicly disseminated at ASME and SPE conferences. The study included but was not confined to developing micro mold inserts, investigating polymer micro mechanical properties, investigating micro mold pre-heating effects on final product mechanical properties, and investigating a popular existing commercial 3D flow simulation software. Although not a panacea to the expansive scientific world of AIM, this dissertation has contributed substantial knowledge to enable the further advancement of micro and nano scale polymer processing.; A brief summary of the main research outcomes included (i) UV lithography based mold fabrication methods yielded 5 nm surface roughness, (ii) compared to non-heated molding trials, the heated muIM trials produced parts with significantly higher stiffness, modulus, and hardness values for both amorphous and semi-crystalline polymer materials, (iii) muIM machine packing times produced the greatest effects on final product mechanical property values, (iv) final product yield strengths and modulus of elasticity's significantly increased with decreasing part sizes, and (v) a popular existing 3-D flow simulation package consistently under predicted flow lengths on fabricated muIM tensile test specimens. This led to the derivation of new 3-D flow equations that satisfied affirmative studies of slip at the boundary walls during the muIM filling phase.; Lehigh University showed the capacity to fabricate mumolds with a 200mum bit mounted on a HAAS CNC milling machine, and also the capacity to muIM and test tensile specimens on a BOY 12A and ARES rheometer, respectively. Future studies should make an attempt at determining the upper limits on muIM parts mechanical properties as parts are made smaller. Will it be determined to be the strength of a C-C bond?... |
