Optimized Design and Orthogonal Experiment for Processing Microchannels with a CO2 Laser Beam
X-Y. Chen and T-C. LI
CO2 laser cutting is an advanced processing technology, which can according to the computer aided design (CAD) graphics cut a variety of shapes in the surfaces of many polymer sheets. In this work the CO2 laser cuts the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) sheets by melting and vaporizing the unwanted material from the parent material for obtaining high-quality microchannels of the microfluidic chip. Some experiments were carried out, and the experimental results were analysed by orthogonal test method. Finally optimal power, scanning speed, channel length and processing times were obtained.
Keywords: CO2 laser, microchannel, polymer sheet, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), microfluidic chip, orthogonal test method