Direct observation of mould cavity filling in ceramic injection moulding

The ceramic injection moulding process is largely used to manufacture 3D net shape components. So far the feedstock behaviours of the mixture of polymer binder and ceramic powder are not well described. In order to better understand the ceramic injection moulding process, a mould with transparent glass windows is manufactured in the laboratory to observe the melt flow during injection stage. The injection process is taken by a high speed CCD camera through the transparent glass windows. In this paper, injection moulding experiments have been performed to observe and compare the filling process, the effects of gate size and injection process parameters on occurrence of jetting have been studied.