Modeling and Simulation of the Flow of a Thermoplastic Polymer during Filling of a Cylindrical Micro‐Cavity

This work is related to experiments and modelling concerning viscous polymer flow such as cyclo‐olefin polymer (COP) and cyco‐olefin copolymer (COC) arising in the hot embossing process in order to understand and predict the filling of microcavities. The simulation results are obtained for axisymmetric geometries. The filling time and the dimensions of polymer with the rheological and experimental process parameters are obtained. From the variations of the radius characterizing the squeeze flow of the polymers between plates with or without cavities, it is possible to relate the rheological properties (fluidity index, consistency, melt flow index and viscosity) to the aptitude of the polymers to reproduce the geometrical shape and surface asperities of a microstructured mould. The flow imposed to the polymeric material in shear or elongational mode was correlated to the rheological approach. This approach allows to better understand the compression of thermoplastic disks as well as the filling mechanism o...