Analysis of filling distance in cylindrical microfeatures for microinjection molding

In the injection molding of plastic components with cylindrical microfeatures, the ability for the polymer melt to flow into the microchannels is a crucial factor for successful molding. Penetration distance of the polymer melt into the microstructure depends on several factors as the melt flow rate and the cooling rate in the microfeatures, which depends on the materials and geometric dimensions. In this study, a simplified analytical model was constructed to estimate the filling distance into the cylindrical microchannels. The effects of the mold temperature, injection rate, heat transfer coefficient, and microchannel dimension on the filling distance were investigated. The filling distance decreases dramatically with respect to the decrease of the channel radius. In molding of plastic components with cylindrical microfeatures as those analyzed in this study, decrease of the part thickness could also increase the filling distance in the microfeatures. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.