TITLE:
Three-dimensional Inspection and Characterization of Plastic Micro Mixers Fabricated by Different Packaging Techniques
AUTHORS:
R. Y. Zhang, K. Chen, L. X. Wang, W. J. Zhu
KEYWORDS:
Characterization of plastic packaging, Micro-CT (Computed Tomography), Micromixer
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.8 No.3,
March
20,
2009
ABSTRACT: An X-ray microtomography system was used for inspecting and characterizing the packaging of
micro mixers of planar configuration. Two types of micro mixers were machined from acrylic
plate by means of precision milling, and four different packaging techniques were tested for
mixer assembly: adhesive bonding, plasma bonding, screw-bolting, and xurography with doublesided
tape. The interiors of the mixers were thoroughly examined by navigating the threedimensional
images generated by the micro CT system. It was found that plasma bonding did
not work well on acrylics. The boundaries between the acrylic plate and the plastic tape used in
tape bonding were almost indistinguishable in the X-ray images because the densities of these
two materials are very close. Of the different packaging techniques we tested tape bonding
provided good sealing without the drawback of glue or sealing materials smeared into the
mixing chamber or flow channels.