Morphology Development During Micro Injection Moulding of Thermoplastics

Micro injection moulding is a key process in the field of micro manufacturing especially in the production of medical devices. Micro injection molding technology involves the injection of the whole material with the result of a high degree of efficiency due to the material saving process. In comparison with conventional large injection moulding, the volume of material is very much reduced and as a consequence the flow and temperature profiles are considerable different to macro injection moulding. This work focuses on the impact on the structure, morphology and properties of parts prepared using micro injection moulding of these changes flow and temperature profiles. We have used small-angle X-ray Scattering techniques to evaluate the semicrystalline morphology and we have discovered that the nature of the process has led to changes in the morphology. We have supplemented the small angle scattering technique with wide-angle x-ray scattering as well differential scanning calorimetry.