Marco Sorgato

Injection molded polymeric micropatterns for bone regeneration study.

An industrially feasible process for the fast mass-production of molded polymeric micro-patterned substrates is here presented. Microstructured polystyrene (PS) surfaces were obtained through micro injection molding (μIM) technique on directly patterned stamps realized with a new zirconia-based hybrid spin-on system able to withstand 300 cycles at 90 °C. The use of directly patterned stamps entails a great advantage on the overall manufacturing process as it allows a fast, flexible, and simple one-step process with respect to the use of milling, laser machining, electroforming techniques, or conventional lithographic processes for stamp fabrication. Among the different obtainable geometries, we focused our attention on PS replicas reporting 2, 3, and 4 μm diameter pillars with 8, 9, 10 μm center-to-center distance, respectively. This enabled us to study the effect of the substrate topography on human mesenchymal stem cells behavior without any osteogenic growth factors. Our data show that microtopography affected cell behavior. In particular, calcium deposition and osteocalcin expression enhanced as diameter and interpillar distance size increases, and the 4-10 surface was the most effective to induce osteogenic differentiation.

The evaluation of vacuum venting and variotherm process for improving the replication by injection molding of high aspect ratio micro features for biomedical application

The aspect ratio achievable in replicating micro features is one of the most important process characteristics and it is a major manufacturing constraint in applying injection molding in a range of micro engineering applications. Vacuum venting has been reported to be an effective technique in replicating micro features by microinjection molding. High surface-to-volume ratio and reduced dimensions of micro parts promote the instantaneous drop of melt temperature and consequently lead to incomplete filling. This study aims to investigate the effects of variotherm process, cavity evacuation and their interaction on the production of a micro fluidic filter for biomedical applications. A low-viscosity polystyrene and a cyclic olefin copolymer were molded applying a combination of mold evacuation and a rapid mold temperature variation that keeps the cavity temperature above the glass transition temperature during the injection phase. The research revealed the importance of these molding technologies in enhanci...

Resins Materials as Alternative Insert for the Fabrication of Micro Structured Surfaces by Micro Injection Moulding

Micro injection moulding is a key technology for mass-production of micro structured surfaces, such as optical and microfluidic devices. The manufacturing of a microstructured master mould with traditional technologies poses challenges about durability, accuracy and high - volume production. This paper introduces a new approach to realize micro mould inserts in a fast and economical way. Suitable engineered materials as alternative inserts to the metallic one are proposed exploiting the following new strategy: a thermosetting epoxy resin from renewable sources was synthesized and used to realize the mould insert via casting. The initial low viscosity of the liquid epoxy resin precursors allows the achievement of a high fidelity replica of different micro structures and provides an inexpensive and convenient route for rapidly duplicate master mould. A staggered harringbone (SHM) micro-mixer geometry was replicated and the epoxy based resin insert withstood 900 moulding cycles showing good features replication and durability.

Prototyping and modeling of the centrifugal casting process for paraffin waxes

ABSTRACT Centrifugal casting is a technology used for manufacturing hybrid rocket paraffin grains. This technology helps avoiding voids formation inside the solid paraffin as it cools. Voids are formed because of air bubbles being entrapped while pouring and because the liquid wax shrinks by 17–19% upon cooling. In this work, the centrifugal casting process for the manufacturing of paraffin cylinders was prototyped at two different scales considering critical casting issues. The effects of process parameters (rotational speed, melt temperature, and flow rate) on the tensile properties of the manufactured grains were analyzed. The results of the optimization conducted at the lower scale (2.5 kg) were up scaled to manufacture 25 kg grains. The resulting mechanical properties complied with the design specifications, and they were better than those characterized from the gravity cast wax. A numerical model of growth and dissolution of bubbles during the process was then developed to predict the quality of the castings. The numerical results showed how increasing the mold rotational speed up to 1800 rpm reduced the removal time. However, compared to grains solidification time, the predicted removal times were much shorter, proving the advantage of centrifugal casting in counteracting voids formation.