The demolding of powder injection molded micro-structures: analysis, simulation and experiment

This paper studies the demolding of an array of powder injection molded micro-structures based on a variotherm mold. The demolding of the micro-structures array was analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. Finite element method (FEM) software ABAQUS was used to analyze and simulate the demolding of an array of 24 x 24 (total of 576) micro-structures. It was found that there exists a 'critical temperature' at which the demolding force for the micro-structures array is a minimum. The stress distribution of the micro-structures and demolding force for the micro-structures during the course of demolding were analyzed for both demolding temperatures higher and lower than the critical temperature. Packing pressure and demolding temperature have an apparent impact on the demolding force. A series of demolding force measuring experiments at different packing pressures and demolding temperatures were conducted to verify the theoretical results.