Experimental validation of viscous and viscoelastic simulations of the micro injection molding process

The effects of two different rheological models used in the simulation of the micro injection molding (μIM) process are investigated. The Cross-WLF viscous model and the Giesekus viscoelastic model are selected and their performance evaluated using 3D models implemented on two different commercially available software packages. Simulation results are then compared with the experimental μIM process. Validation parameters for the comparison are the flow front position during filling of the micro cavity. They are respectively obtained by applying the short-shots method and the flow-markers method. The μIM part is polystyrene tensile bar test weighting 20mg and with three μ-features 300 μm wide.