Injection molding general aspects

Injection molding is probably the most widely used cyclic process for manufacturing parts from thermoplastics. In this section we discuss some of the general aspects of the process, the fluid mechanics of mold filling, the method by which structuring occurs, and the basis for computer-aided design. 

All four processes have the abihty to replicate nano and micro sized features in a substrate material (see Table 1). Even though the features themselves may be at the nano scale, the substrate sizes and feature aspect ratios should be considered when selecting a process for replication. For example, hot embossing may be performed on substrates less than 0.5 mm thick, while injection molded parts generally need to have a thickness ofatleast2mm[ll]. 

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