Research Projects

The proposed bilateral project aims to define a process chain for manufacturing soft tooling inserts, such as micro stereolithography (µSL) and laser direct imaging (LDI), and micro injection moulding as high-volume production technology. The objective is to manufacture hard tooling inserts and test for micro injection moulding, as well as soft tool inserts using LDI and testing for micro injection moulding. The expected major outcomes are high volume production of micro reactor systems with increased durability of tool inserts and high quality microproducts with better geometrical accuracy, finish, and lower residual stress. Methodology will use the Taguchi method, which includes a modified analysis of variance ANOVA, to design experiments and evaluate results. Extensive experimentation will be conducted to produce hard soft tooling inserts for micro moulding. Process parameters, materials, and aspect ratio will be studied for both hard tooling inserts and soft tooling. The project will also study process parameters for various materials to manufacture microreactors during moulding runner systems.