Micro ultrasonic powder molding for semi-crystalline polymers

The present paper introduces micro ultrasonic powder molding (micro-UPM), a novel method for forming micro semi-crystalline polymer parts. In the proposed method, semi-crystalline polymer powder is rapidly heated and plasticized by ultrasonic vibration, after which the microcavity is filled with the melt under sonotrode pressure (PU) to form a variety of micro polymer parts. Differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and nanoindentation tests demonstrate that micro-UPM UHMWPE (ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene) parts consists of nascent and melt-recrystallized phases and that energy concentrated at particle interfaces as a result of high-frequency friction, compressive deformation, and ultrasonic radiation leads to rapid diffusion and interpenetration of the chain segment. The particle interface melts result in strong co-crystallization during cooling. To investigate the effect of ultrasonic duration time (TU) on the quality of micro-UPM UHMWPE parts, different TU values are utilized to form UHMWPE parts at a PU of 16 MPa and a holding time of 5.0 s. As TU increases, the number and sizes of interparticle voids gradually decrease. A rise in the melting peak of the melt-recrystallized phase and a drop in the melting peak of the nascent phrase as well as crystallinity are further observed. When TU is only 1.5 s, the crystallinity of the micro plastic part reaches a minimum value of 54.3% and the melt-recrystallized phase fraction reaches a maximum value of 98.3%. Powder particle interfaces almost disappear in this case, and optimum quality of the micro-UPM UHMWPE part is achieved.