Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2007
Abstract
Recently, microstructures fabricated using microstereolithography technology have been used in the biological, medical and mechanical fields. Microstereolithography can fabricate real 3D microstructures with fine features, although there is presently a limited number of materials available for use in the process. Deformation of the fine features on a fabricated microstructure remains a critical issue for successful part fabrication, and part deformation can occur during rinsing or during fabrication as a result of fluid flow forces that occur during movement of mechanical parts of the system. Deformation can result in failure to fabricate a particular feature by breaking the feature completely, spatial deflection of the feature, or attaching the feature to neighboring microstructures. To improve mechanical strength of fabricated microstructures, a clay nanocomposite can be used. In particular, a high-aspect ratio microstructure can be fabricated without distortion using photocurable liquid resin containing a clay nanocomposite. In this paper, a clay nanocomposite was blended with a photocurable liquid resin to solve the deformation problem that occurs during fabrication and rinsing. An optimal mixture ratio of a clay nanocomposite was found through tensile testing and the minimal allowable distance between microstructures was found through fabrication experimentation. Finally, using these results, high-aspect ratio microstructures were fabricated using a clay nanocomposite resin without distortion.
Publication Title
Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
Volume
24
Issue
12
First Page
119
Last Page
127
Recommended Citation
Lee, Su-Do; Choi, Jae-Won; Park, In-Baek; Ha, Chang-Sik; and Lee, Seok-Hee, "Improvement of Mechanical Properties of UV-curable Resin for High-aspect Ratio Microstructures Fabricated in Microstereolithography" (2007). Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research. 860.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/mechanical_ideas/860