Papers by Author: Chul Jin Hwang

Abstract: With the capability of net shaping for complex 3D geometry, powder injection molding (PIM) is widely used for automotive parts, electronics and medical industry. In this study, an ultrasonic dental scaler tip produced by machining process was redesigned for the PIM process. An injection mold was designed and machined to produce the dental scaler tip by the PIM process. The mold design was aided by CAE analysis. A PIM feedstock was made of SUS316L powder and a wax based binder. The filling balance in the mold was checked by a short shot test with LDPE and the PIM feedstock. Production capability of the PIM process for the dental scaler tip was examined with the mold. Although there were minor problems such as a discoloration around the gate and a flashing at the air vent, the PIM process turned out to be an excellent substitute for machining process to manufacture the ultrasonic dental scaler tip.

Abstract: Powder Injection Molding (PIM) has recently been recognized as an advanced manufacturing technology for low-cost mass production of metal or ceramic parts of complicated geometry. With this regards, design technology of dental scaler tip PIM mold, which has complex shape and a slim core pin of 0.6 mm diameter, with the help of computer-aided analysis for powder injection molding process was developed. Computer-aided analysis for dental scaler tip mold was implemented by finite element method with non-Newtonian fluid, modified Cross model viscosity, PvT data of powder/binder mixture. The core deflection analysis of dental scaler tip PIM mold during PIM filling process was also investigated. Compter-aided analysis results, such as filling pattern, weldline formation, and air vent position prediction were investigated and eventually showed good agreements with experimental results.

Abstract: Recently, injection molded plastic optical products are widely used in many fields, because injection molding process has advantages of low cost and high productivity. However, there remains residual birefringence and residual stresses originated from flow history and differential cooling. The present study focused on developing a technique to measure the birefringence in transparent injection-molded optical plastic parts using two methods as follows: (i) the two colored laser method, (ii) the R-G-B separation method of white light. The main idea of both methods came from the fact that more information can be obtained from the distribution of retardation caused by different wavelengths. The comparison between two methods is demonstrated for the same sample of which retardation is up to 850 nm.