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摘要
The paper investigates the way to get metallic micro-fluidic devices through the soft embossing process. The micro-manufacturing process consists of four stages. In the first stage, a metallic master is used to get micro-shaped cavities on a plastic loaded substrate with a mixture based on polypropylene (PP), paraffin wax (PW) and stearic acid (SA). Firstly, a silicone rubber (Sylgard 184) has been used as the material to get an elastomeric moulds. These moulds have been realized by casting in micro-fabricated steel masters that have been used to emboss plastic loaded components. The advantages of this approach include: rapid manufacturing of injection tools with high-quality, easy demoulding of metallic components from the elastomeric moulds and great flexibility in material choices. In the second stage, the optimum binder composition has been determined by torque rheology measurements. The metal feedstocks with 60% powder loadings in volume have been prepared with the mixing equipment. A suitable formulation for powder soft embossing has been selected based on torque measurements, rheological behaviour characterization and homogeneity of feedstocks. Finally, a rapid prototyping process based on soft embossing in loaded polymer enables the fast and cost-efficient manufacturing of a steel mould. This mould is as a pre-stage for later injection moulding. A micro-fluidic chip is presented as an example. The paper describes all the processing stages and the way to characterize the geometrical, physical and mechanical properties of the resulting micro-parts.
- 出版日期2010-9
