Fabrication of corrugated artificial insect wings using laser micromachined molds

TLDR

The study presents a method to fabricate artificial insect wings with complex topological features by micromolding a thermosetting resin. The authors use a layered laser ablation technique to produce 3‑µm‑resolution molds, then micromold a thermosetting resin into a 12‑mm hoverfly‑like wing with 50–125 µm vein heights and 100 µm corrugation, forming solid veins and membrane simultaneously and employing a water‑soluble sacrificial layer for safe demolding. Surface profile measurements confirm that the molded wings replicate the mold geometry with high accuracy, demonstrating that the process can produce insect‑wing morphologies at scale with precision sufficient for parametric functional studies and for creating diverse wing types for micro air vehicles.

Abstract

This paper describes the fabrication of an artificial insect wing with a rich set of topological features by micromolding a thermosetting resin. An example 12 mm long hoverfly-like wing is fabricated with 50–125 µm vein heights and 100 µm corrugation heights. The solid veins and membrane were simultaneously formed and integrated by a single molding process. Employing a layered laser ablation technique, three-dimensional molds were created with 5 µm resolution in height. Safe demolding of the wing was achieved with a water-soluble sacrificial layer on the mold. Measured surface profiles of the wing matched those of the molds, demonstrating the high replication accuracy of this molding process. Using this process, the morphological features of insect wings can be replicated at-scale with high precision, enabling parametric experiments of the functional morphology of insect wings. This fabrication capability also makes it possible to create a variety of wing types for micro air vehicles on scales similar to insects.