Resources

Additional references and resources for micro molding design.

Industry Standards

Plastics Industry Standards

• SPI/Plastics Industry Association — Standards and Practices of Plastics Molders
• AQ-102 — Molding tolerances for plastic materials

Medical Device Regulations

• FDA 21 CFR Part 820 — Quality System Regulation
• ISO 13485 — Medical devices quality management systems
• ISO 10993 — Biological evaluation of medical devices
• ISO 14644-1 — Cleanroom classification standards
• ISO 14698 — Cleanroom microbial monitoring
• USP Class VI — Biocompatibility testing for plastics

General Manufacturing

• ISO 9001 — Quality management systems
• IATF 16949 — Automotive quality management
• ISO 14971 — Medical device risk management

Material Resources

Material Databases

• Material supplier technical data sheets
• UL Prospector (material property database)
• CAMPUS (plastics material database)

Common Material Suppliers

Micro Molding Equipment

Machine Manufacturers

Design Software

Flow Simulation

• Moldflow (Autodesk)
• Moldex3D (CoreTech)
• Sigmasoft (Sigma Engineering)

CAD Systems

Ensure your CAD system can handle:

• Micro-scale features accurately
• Appropriate file tolerances for micro dimensions
• Export formats compatible with mold maker’s systems

Measurement Equipment Suppliers

Glossary

Contact

For questions about this design guide or micro molding capabilities, contact Future Micro.

References

This design guide was compiled from authoritative industry and academic sources:

Academic & Research Publications

1. A Review of Microinjection Moulding of Polymeric Micro Devices — PMC/MDPI
2. The Micro Injection Moulding Process for Polymeric Components Manufacturing — IntechOpen
3. Micro-injection moulding of polymer microfluidic devices — Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, Springer
4. Effects of Cavity Thickness and Mold Surface Roughness on Polymer Flow During Micro Injection Molding — PMC
5. Advanced Injection Molding Methods: Review — Materials, MDPI
6. Modelling and Simulation for Micro Injection Molding Process — IntechOpen
7. Recent Advances in Microinjection Molding of Polymer Materials for Biomedical Applications — Advanced Engineering Materials, Wiley
8. A Review on Microcellular Injection Moulding — PMC/MDPI
9. Microcellular injection molding of polymers: a review — Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science
10. Micro-nanostructured polymer surfaces using injection molding: A review — ScienceDirect
11. Microinjection molding of thermoplastic polymers: A review — Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
12. Study of rheological behaviour of polymer melt in micro injection moulding — Polymer Testing
13. Optimizing process parameters in micro injection moulding — ScienceDirect
14. Multi-Objective Optimizations for Microinjection Molding Process Parameters of Biodegradable Polymer Stent — Materials, MDPI
15. Study on the Effect of Processing Parameters on Residual Stresses of Injection Molded Micro-Pillar Array — PMC
16. Fundamentals of rapid injection molding for microfluidic cell-based assays — Lab on a Chip, RSC
17. Fabrication Methods for Microfluidic Devices: An Overview — Micromachines, MDPI
18. Mechanical properties of the weld line defect in micro injection molding for nano filled polypropylene composites — Journal of Alloys and Compounds
19. Replica Molding of High-Aspect-Ratio Polymeric Nanopillar Arrays — Langmuir, ACS
20. High-aspect-ratio nanoimprint process chains — Microsystems & Nanoengineering
21. Replication integrity of micro features using variotherm and vacuum assisted microinjection moulding — ScienceDirect
22. Injection molding of high-precision optical lenses: A review — ScienceDirect
23. New Considerations on the Determination of the Apparent Shear Viscosity of Polymer Melt with Micro Capillary Dies — Polymers, MDPI
24. Rheological behavior of POM polymer melt flowing through micro-channels — European Polymer Journal
25. Polymer Crystallization Under High Cooling Rate and Pressure — Springer
26. Effects of Pressure and Cooling Rates on Crystallization Behavior of Isotactic Polypropylene — Polymers, MDPI
27. Analysis of the Similarity between Injection Molding Simulation and Experiment — PMC
28. Development of the vent clogging monitoring methods for injection molding — ScienceDirect

Industry Technical Resources

29. Accumold — Micro Molding Design Guidelines
30. Accumold — Design for Micro Molding
31. Accumold — Micro Molder Requirements
32. Accumold — Medical Micro Molding
33. Accumold — Micro Optics Molding
34. MTD Micro Molding — Micro Materials
35. MTD Micro Molding — Micro Metrology
36. MTD Micro Molding — How Thin Can We Go?
37. Isometric Micro Molding — Thin-Walled Micro Injection Molding
38. Isometric Micro Molding — CT Scanning
39. Medical Micro Molding — Process Validation Protocols
40. Medical Micro Molding — ISO 13485 Requirements
41. Medical Micro Molding — PEEK for Medical Uses
42. Medical Micro Molding — Materials: PEEK, LCP & Biodegradable Polymers
43. Protolabs — Injection Molding Tolerances
44. Protolabs — Draft Angle Guidelines
45. Protolabs — Wall Thickness Guidelines
46. Manufacturing Tomorrow — Tolerance Attainment in Micro Molding
47. Manufacturing Tomorrow — Design Guidelines for Micro Molding
48. Med-Tech Insights — Design Guidelines for Micromoulding
49. Plastics Today — More to Micro Molding than Part Size
50. Plastics Technology — Micromolding Sizing Up the Challenges
51. Plastics Technology — Molding Simulation: New Frontiers
52. Plastics Technology — Faster Is Not Always Better
53. Plastics Technology — Vacuum Venting Keeps Molds Running Longer
54. MoldMaking Technology — Diamond-Like Carbon Mold Coatings
55. MoldMaking Technology — A Different Approach to Mold Venting
56. Machine Design — CT vs CMM Comparison
57. Makino — Micromachining Technologies
58. EDM Intelligent Solutions — Micro Manufacturing
59. Arburg — Micro Injection Moulding
60. Sumitomo Demag — SE7M Micro Injection Molding Machines
61. Moldex3D — Flow Simulation
62. Xometry — Conformal Cooling
63. 3D Systems — Conformal Cooling
64. Ensinger — Micro Injection Moulding with High Performance Polymers

Standards & Regulatory Guidance

65. FDA 21 CFR Part 820 — Quality System Regulation
66. ISO 13485:2016 — Medical Devices Quality Management
67. ISO 10993 — Biological Evaluation of Medical Devices
68. USP Class VI Testing Requirements