Laser assisted polymer moulding of small parts

Small thermoplastic parts may be efficiently moulded by means of a laser assisted moulding process. A semi-transparent mould is used combined with a diode laser source to directly shape pellets or shreds. A very low holding pressure is applied and no mould heating system is required; therefore the size of the moulding system is small as well as the size of the mould. In order to evaluate the mouldability of different thermoplastic materials, moulding tests were carried out on acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS). A single pellet was moulded at a time to produce thin disks, density measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were carried out. To show the process capabilities, a screw was moulded in HDPE, from a piece of a calendered sheet.