• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.43-44
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• 2006

The production method of micro sacrificial plastic mold insert metal injection molding, namely ${\mu}-SPiMIM$ process has been proposed to solve specific problems involving the miniaturization of MIM. Two types of sacrificial plastic molds (SP-mold) with fine structures were used: 1) PMMA resist, 2) PMMA mold injected into Ni-electroform, which is a typical LIGA (${\underline{L}}ithographie-{\underline{G}}alvanoformung-{\underline{A}}bformung$) process. Stainless steel 316L feedstock was injection-molded into the SP-molds with multi-pillar structures. This study focused on the effects of metal particle size and processing conditions on the shrinkage, transcription and surface roughness of sintered parts.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.5-12
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• 2018

Plastic containers which provides the opportunity to reduce transportation costs are lighter and less brittle than glass containers. As a results, efforts to replace glass with plastic are ongoing. The blow molding method is a typical approach in producing plastic containers. Single-stage injection blow molding (ISBM) is one of the blow molding methods. However, the difficulty in controlling the temperature during the injection molding process is considered its main disadvantage. In this study, ISBM process analysis of relatively thick walled containers such as cosmetic containers is carried out. The initial temperature distribution of the preform is deemed to be the most influential factor in the accuracy of blow molding for the thick vessel. In order to accurately predict this, all heat transfer processes of the preform are considered. The validity of this analytical procedure is verified by comparing the cross-sectional thickness with the actual product. Finally, the validated analytical method is used to evaluate the factors affecting the thickness of the final molded part. The ISBM analysis technique for thick walled vessels developed through this study can be used as an effective predictor for preform design and blow process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.1043-1046
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• 2000

By combination of X-ray lithography, electroplating and molding process, various microstructures have been produced. Specially, the alignment grooves for multi-fibers with submicron accuracy have been produced. This paper described a fabrication process of LICA molds and micro molding technique by using LIGA molds. The accuracy of the fabricated LIGA molds was less than 0.4${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The injection molded alignment grooves were very precise and had me surface roughness so that they could be successfully applicable to optical systems.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.36-41
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• 2018

Metal 3D printing is very useful for making the injection molds containing complex conformal cooling channels. The most important issue of the 3D printed molds is cost and life cycle. However, powder bed fusion (PBF) methods are vulnerable to fatigue loading because of the presence of pores and rough surfaces. In the present study, the fatigue test was performed to obtain fatigue analysis input data for predicting the durability of a 3D printed injection mold core. The metal 3D printer used to manufacture the specimen was OPM250L from Sodick, and the metal powder material was maraging steel. The ultrasonic fatigue testing method was adopted for the fatigue test. A key advantage of the ultrasonic fatigue method is that $10^8{\sim}10^9$ long cycle test data or more could be obtained within a relatively short period. Based on the results of the experiment, the effect of heat treatment was negligible. However, there was an apparent difference in durability depending on the presence or absence of the surface treatment.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.122-127
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• 2009

The injection mold with multi-cavity is essential for mass production of plastic products. Multi-cavity molds are designed to geometrically balanced runner system to uniformly fill to each cavity. However, despite geometrical balanced runner system, filling imbalances between cavity to cavity have always been observed in injection molding. To solve these problems, many studies such as Melt Flipper, RC Pin, and others have been presented. The results of these studies have been an effect on filling balances in multi-cavity molds. But, those have had a limitation that additional insert parts must have existed in the mold. In this study, a new runner system is suggested for filling balance between cavity to cavity using "Melt-Buffer" with simple change of runner shape. A series of simulation to confirm feasibility of Melt-Buffer's effects was conducted using injection molding CAE program. Also, a series of injection molding experiment was conducted using plastic materials such as ABS and PP. As results of this study, feasibilities of filling balances by Melt-Buffer were confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2012

In this study, silicone injection molding technology with curved thermoplastic insert was developed to produce super-hydrophobic surface. Thermoplastic insert part and injection mold design of base plastic cover were performed to produce cost effective hydrophobic surface part. An optimization process of part thickness for thermoplastic insert part was performed with transient thermal analysis under silicone over-molding process condition. Structural thermal analysis of silicone injection mold was also performed to obtain uniform temperature condition on the surface of micro-patterned mold core. Super-hydrophobic surface for the silicone injection molded part with thermoplastic insert could be verified from the measurement of contact angle. It was shown that the averaged contact angle was over $140^{\circ}$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.109-116
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• 2017

In this study, the optimization of the overall dimensions of an automobile bumper was investigated through CAE and experiment using the Six Sigma method and design of experiment (DOE) method, respectively. Injection pressure, injection speed, injection time, cooling time, holding time, injection temperature, and holding pressure were selected as the vital parameters affecting the overall width of product through analysis of trivial many using CAE. The optimal values were determined using the DOE method, and we analyzed the improvement by applying the optimal conditions to the production process. As a result, the mean value of the overall width was close to the target value, with a deviation of 0.05mm, and the processability and I-MR control were remarkably improved. Finally, the dimension pass rate of the product improved by 20%.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.580-585
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• 2004

Almost all injection molds have multi-cavity runner system fur productivity and are designed with geometrically balanced runner system in order to minimize filling imbalance between cavity to cavity during processing. However, filling imbalances have been observed though geometrically balanced runner lay-out. Generally, these filling imbalances are due to thermal unbalance, viscosity, characteristic of polymers and so on. These kinds of filling imbalances have already been reported by Beaumont since 1997, but his research has mainly focused on filling imbalance at binary runner. In this study, we conducted an experimental study about the filling imbalances in unary branch runner as well as binary branch runner and inquired into the causes of filling imbalances. The results could be summarized as fellowing: Filling imbalances existed in multi-cavity mold with unary branch runner, it could be decreased by optimizing processing condition such as increasing injection rate, and it is almost proportion to each polymer's temperature sensibility.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2016

Connectors are very important components that transmit electric signals to different parts. It must maintain intensity of the connector to prevent defects from impact and maintain contact to transmit electric signals. Most of the external parts of the connector, which act as the main framework, are formed by injection molding. However, bend deformation occurs for injection molded products due to the residual stress left inside the product after product molding. When the bend deformation is large, it does not come into complete contact when being assembled with other parts, which leads to connector contact intensity not being properly maintained. In result, the main role of the connector, which is to transmit electric signals, cannot be performed. In order to address this problem, this study conducted bend deformation cause analysis through bend deformation analysis to predict and prevent bend deformation of housings and wafers, which are injection molded products of pressure welded connectors that are normally applied in compact mobile and display products. Bend deformation analysis was carried out by checking the charging time, pressure distribution and temperature distribution through wire to board connector wafer and housing injection molding analysis. Based on the results of the bend deformation analysis results, the cause of the bend deformation was analyzed through deformation resulting from disproportional cooling, deformation resulting from disproportional contraction, and deformation resulting from ingredient orientation. In result, it was judged that the effects for bend deformation were biggest due to disproportional contraction for both the pressure welded connector wafer and housing.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.3
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• pp.369-376
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• 2020

The life of conventional steel plastic injection molds is long but manufacturing cost and time are prohibitive for using these molds for producing prototypes of products in limited numbers. Commonly used 3D printers and rapid prototyping methods are capable of directly converting the digital models of three-dimensional solid objects into solid physical parts. Depending on the 3D printer, the final product can be made from different material, such as polymer or metal. Rapid prototyping of parts with the polymeric material is typically cheaper, faster and convenient. However, the life of a polymer mold can be less than a hundred parts. Failure of a polymeric mold during the injection molding process can result in serious safety issues considering very large forces and temperatures are involved. In this study, the feasibility of the inspection of 3D printed molds with the surface response to excitation (SuRE) method was investigated. The SuRE method was originally developed for structural health monitoring and load monitoring in thin-walled plate-like structures. In this study, first, the SuRE method was used to evaluate if the variation of the strain could be monitored when loads were applied to the center of the 3D printed molds. After the successful results were obtained, the SuRE method was used to monitor the artifact (artificial damage) created at the 3D printed mold. The results showed that the SuRE method is a cost effective and robust approach for monitoring the condition of the 3D printed molds.