A 3D measurement workflow for assessing replication quality and tool degradation in moulded microfluidic channels
Abstract
Mould-based replication, such as injection moulding with 3D-printed inserts, needs a check of how faithfully microchannels are transferred from master to polymer replica. It is usually limited to a width or depth ratio from one cross-section, which misses the sidewall shape and depends on where the section is taken. We present a workflow that assesses the whole channel from 3D scans of master and replica, without sectioning. The scans are registered on a common grid, and each height map is converted into a map of local slope. The correlation of the two slope maps over the channel interior, RQd, is reported with the channel dimensions and height- and slope-error maps. These outputs separate a change of shape from a change of size and locate it. A user can thereby compare mould materials, detect tool wear, and tell whether a deviation arose before or during moulding. On synthetic channels with known degradation, RQd fell steadily as the sidewalls were rounded, whereas the height correlation levelled off. For injection moulding with stereolithography-printed inserts in three resins, RQd ranged from 0.17 to 0.91 over fifteen insert-to-part pairs. The height correlation placed the ten well-formed channels within 0.03. Over a twenty-shot run, one insert's RQd fell from 0.90 to 0.72 as its sidewalls wore, while its height correlation stayed above 0.93. We developed open-source software that implements the workflow. Because the workflow needs only registered 3D scans of a master and its replica, it can in principle be applied to other mould-based processes.
Related
- HERA: Assessing an Autonomous Agent for Quantum Device Measurement
- How much data does a memory kernel need? Measurement requirements for fractional models of battery and corrosion degradation
- Structured Glycine Clusters in Saturated Solutions as the Source of Memory Effect in Crystal Nucleation: a Microfluidic / LT-MAS NMR Study
- Microfluidic Oscillatory Rheology of Transported Soft Particles
- Enhanced microfluidic heat sinks with a bio-inspired metal skeleton toward thermal management of flexible electronics
BibTeX
@misc{gungor2026measurement,
title = {{A 3D measurement workflow for assessing replication quality and tool degradation in moulded microfluidic channels}},
author = {Mehmet Oğulcan Güngör and Jérôme Charmet and Ender Yıldırım},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.39046},
eprint = {2610.39046},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.39046},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A 3D measurement workflow for assessing replication quality and tool degradation in moulded microfluidic channels
AU - Mehmet Oğulcan Güngör
AU - Jérôme Charmet
AU - Ender Yıldırım
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.39046
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.39046
AB - Mould-based replication, such as injection moulding with 3D-printed inserts, needs a check of how faithfully microchannels are transferred from master to polymer replica. It is usually limited to a width or depth ratio from one cross-section, which misses the sidewall shape and depends on where the section is taken. We present a workflow that assesses the whole channel from 3D scans of master and replica, without sectioning. The scans are registered on a common grid, and each height map is converted into a map of local slope. The correlation of the two slope maps over the channel interior, RQ_d, is reported with the channel dimensions and height- and slope-error maps. These outputs separate a change of shape from a change of size and locate it. A user can thereby compare mould materials, detect tool wear, and tell whether a deviation arose before or during moulding. On synthetic channels with known degradation, RQ_d fell steadily as the sidewalls were rounded, whereas the height correlation levelled off. For injection moulding with stereolithography-printed inserts in three resins, RQ_d ranged from 0.17 to 0.91 over fifteen insert-to-part pairs. The height correlation placed the ten well-formed channels within 0.03. Over a twenty-shot run, one insert's RQ_d fell from 0.90 to 0.72 as its sidewalls wore, while its height correlation stayed above 0.93. We developed open-source software that implements the workflow. Because the workflow needs only registered 3D scans of a master and its replica, it can in principle be applied to other mould-based processes.
ER -