Fabrication of corrugated artificial insect wings using laser micromachined molds

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. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)