Fine Powders

Fine Powders Technical Publications

146. Sintering of Water Atomized PIM Fe-2Ni-0.8C The use of water atomized powders in powder injection molding processes has long been an area of interest because of the cost savings afforded by the water atomization process over gas atomization and chemical methods. In this study, water atomized Fe-2Ni powder is investigated for sintering response in the milled and as-received conditions. Variations in particle size, carbon content, heating rate, sintering temperature, and atmosphere were studied. The findings indicate that, aside from sintering temperature, the most important factors influencing the sintered density are the particle size, heating rate, and surface chemistry. Milling alters the surface chemistry and decreases the particles size, both of which serve to increase sintered density.

102. Evaluation of High Pressure Water Atomized Powders for Large Scale PIM Production using Different Binder Formulations Recent developments in high-pressure water atomization provide an economical alternative to both gas atomized and chemically produced powders for PIM applications. The new process achieves fine particles representing near-spherical shape with an appropriate size distribution for both high and low alloy metal powders. The PIM manufacturing process that include molding, debinding and sintering is strongly influenced by the metal powder characteristics and binder formulation. This work presents a comparative analysis for processing of water atomized powders using several binder formulations and debinding methods. The experiments are conducted under laboratory conditions as well as an industrial environment currently producing an assortment of high volume PIM parts.

84. Water Atomized Fine Powder Technology Industry trends indicate the need for economical fine powder grades for a growing number of applications. Particle size, shape and percentage yields are the important characteristics associated with the manufacture of suitable powders. This work identifies our development efforts, corresponding achievements and commercial applications. Various metal injection molding binder formulations, to be used in conjunction with the fine powders, are also reviewed.

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