Process Condition Monitoring of Micro Moulding Using a Two-plunger Micro Injection Moulding Machine

The influence of micro injection moulding (µIM) process parameters (melt and mould temperature, piston injection speed and stoke length) on the injection pressure was investigated using Design of Experiments. Direct piston injection pressure measurements were performed and data collected using a micro injection moulding machine equipped with a two-pluger injection unit.

Miniaturized dog-bone shaped speciments on polyoxymethylene (POM) were moulded over a wide range of processing cpnditions in order to characterize the process and assess its capability. Experimental results obtained under diferent processing conditions were evaluated to correlate the process parameter levels influence on the selected responses, considering both average values (for processes characterization) and standard derivations (for process robustness assessment).