Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology uses powder processes to produce electrodes with residual porosity by partially sintering a mixture of electronically and ionically conducting particles. We model porous fuel cell electrodes with 3D packings of monosized spherical particles. These packings are created by numerical sintering. Each particle-particle contact is characteristic for an ionic, electronic or electrochemical resistance. The numerical packing is then discretized into a resistor network which is solved by using Kirchhoff's current law to evaluate the electrode's electrochemical performance. We investigate in particular percolation effects in functionally graded electrodes as compared to other types of electrodes.

In recent years, PCB drills with smaller diameters less than 0.1 mm are used and thus there are growing needs for ultra-fine grained cemented carbides. However, ultra-fine WC powder usually causes extraordinary grain growth during sintering which weakens mechanical strength of ultra-fine grained cemented carbides. So we examined several kinds of WC powders to make new ultra-fine grained cemented carbides having superior performance. We found that direct carburized WC powder is very good as a WC raw material. The PCB drills made of the developed ultra-fine grained cemented carbides have higher hardness, toughness and stiffness than conventional ones.

The sintered parts are mainly used for automobile industry, and a part of air conditioners. In automobile industry, the application range of sintered parts is very broad and use for a driving and a lubricating system. And air conditioner uses them for compressor. Grinding of compressor and pump parts is very difficult these days, because these parts use High hardness materials and require high precision grinding. Tool life has to be extended to decrease production cost. We analyzed processing mechanism and developed new grinding wheels for Double Disk Grinding. And, we introduce new truing technology that improved tool-life and precision.

In order to clarify the wear resistance as cutting tools, the effect of oxygen addition on oxidation behavior of the β-Si3N4 ceramics with 5 mass% Y2O3 and 2 or 4 mass% Al2O3 was investigated by performing oxidation tests in air at 1300° to 1400°C and cutting performance tests. From test results, we could conclude that the mechanical properties of β-Si3N4 ceramics depending on oxygen introduction are much effective on cutting performance improvements of β-Si3N4 ceramics.

In the present work, hot workability of particulate-reinforced Al6061-20%SiC composite produced by direct hot extrusion technique was studied. Uniaxial hot compression test at various temperatures and strain rates was used and the workability behavior was evaluated from the flow curves and the attendant microstructures. It was shown that the presence of SiC particles in the soft Al6061 matrix deteriorates the hot workability. Bulging of the specimens and flow lines were observed, which indicate the plastic instability during hot working. Microstructure of the composites after hot deformation was found to be heterogeneous, i.e. the reinforcement clusters were observed at the flow lines. The mechanism of deformation was found to be controlled primarily by dynamic recrystallization.

For microelectronic circuits, the main type of failure is thermal fatigue. Therefore, the search for matched coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of packaging materials in combination with a high thermal conductivity is the main task for developments of heat sink materials electronics, and good mechanical properties are also required. The aim of this work is to develop copper matrix composites reinforced with carbon nanofibers to meet these requirements. In this paper, a technology for obtaining a homogeneous mixture of copper and nanofibers will be presented and the microstructure and properties of consolidated samples will be discussed.

Recent research at Harbin Institute of Technology on the synthesis of nanocrystalline and untrafine grained materials by mechanical alloying/milling is reviewed. Examples of the materials include aluminum alloy, copper alloy, magnesium-based hydrogen storage material, and Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe magnetic nanocomposite. Details of the processes of mechanical alloying and consolidation of the mechanically alloyed nanocrystalline powder materials are presented. The microstructure characteristics and properties of the synthesized materials are addressed.

Electric scroll-compressor drives are commonly used for e.g. home appliance cooling units. The recent development of hybrid cars with internal combustion engine in combination with electrical propulsion requires new solutions to be able to cool the passenger compartment of cars at stand-still. Both application areas demand efficient motor drives to reach good economy and efficient use of limited battery power as well as competitive volume/weight for a given output. The BLDC motor is a controllable and efficient solution. A major part of the motor is the soft-magnetic core. The powder based Somaloy® material shows high resistivity and induction as the result of engineered iron particles with in-organic coating. The unique features of compacted Somaloy® components can be utilized to enhance the shape and total volume of the BLDC motor with at least maintained efficiency compared to the use of traditional laminated steel sheet cores. A careful design of the Somaloy® components can also simplify assembly and positively influence the coil configuration. This study shows a comparison between a typical laminated BLDC motor and a redesigned, Somaloy® based version adapted for a scroll-compressor application.

Gas surface treatment is considered to be effective for titanium because of its high reactivity. In this study, we investigated the gas nitriding mechanism in titanium sintered parts produced by metal powder injection molding (MIM) process. The microstructure and nitrogen content of sintered MIM parts were greatly affected by nitriding conditions. Nitriding process strongly depended on the specimen size, for example, the size of micro metal injection molding (μ-MIM) product is so small and the specific surface is so large that the mechanical and functional properties can be modified by nitriding.

Mechanical properties of metal injection molded titanium and titanium alloy parts were investigated in this study. Material powders with low oxygen content and spherical shape were obtained by electrode induction-melting gas atomization which could melt and atomize titanium and titanium alloy bars with no touch on crucible or tundish. Tensile specimens were fabricated from obtained powders by metal injection molding process. Tensile strength of the specimens increases with increasing oxygen content. This result corresponds to a tendency of wrought metal.

SMS Meer GmbH, formerly Mannesmann and today part of the SMS Group, has been building powder presses since the early 1950s. The patents developed here in this field have long since documented the pioneering work carried out for the PM industry. The paper focuses on the challenge of reconciling the contradictory demands in the production of highly complex and crack-free PM parts. The process employed with the patented Controlled Punch Adapter (CPA) [1] counters possible cracking reliably and directly at the source. In this way is it possible to develop new and highly complex parts to series production maturity in a minimum of time even without simulation of the press cycle [2]. The quality data achieved in the production series, almost 100% crack and micro crack-free green parts with optimum density distribution over all press levels is unrivalled and thus gives the user a clear lead over the competition.

This lecture introduces new press, adapter and control concepts to size multi-level sintered components. The essential thing here is that the advantages of the multi-plate technology have been applied to the sizing adapter concept. Thus, the new concept meets the demands for a modern P/M manufacture and offers sufficient potential to size any future, complex sintered components such as synchronizer hubs, oil pump wheels and VCT parts with highest precision. Furthermore, it outlines a new flexible concept for the parts transfer, including feeding, orientation and lubrication while responding to the high demands on process stability and short change-over times.

The research involves the development of a powder metallurgical route for producing good quality TiAl targets for making physical vapour deposition (PVD) coatings. Mixtures of elemental titanium and aluminium powders were mechanically milled using a novel discus milling technique under various conditions. Hot isotropic pressing (HIP) was then employed for consolidation of the mechanically alloyed powders. A cathodic arc vapour deposition process was applied to produce a TiAlN coating. Microstructural examination was conducted on the target material and PVD coatings, using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has been found that combining mechanical alloying and HIP enable us to produce fairly good quality of TiAl based target. The PVD coatings obtained from the TiAl target showed very high microhardness values.

Premixes treated with a binder, such as in the FLOMET process, exhibit better flow, reduced dusting and segregation and improved productivity and part consistency compared to conventional premixes. The binder treatment is highly suitable for high performance P/M applications which often require premixes containing very fine alloying additives and excellent die filling characteristics. With this process, various binders and lubricants can be utilized in order to make premixes with unique properties. In this paper, the characteristics and performances of bonded premixes are reported.

Phosphoric acid-activated carbon WP's and zinc chloride-activated carbons WZ's were developed from wild cherry stones. The textural properties of the activated carbons were determined from nitrogen adsorption data at 77 K and the chemistry of the carbon surface, i.e. the surface carbon-oxygen groups (type and amount) was determined from the base and acid neutralization capacities (Boehm method). The adsorption of phenol, p-nitrophenol, p-chlorophenol, dinitrophenol and dichlorophenol was followed at 298 K. The activated carbons obtained were characterized by high surface area and large pore volumes as well as by high surface concentration of C-O groups. The investigated carbons exhibited high adsorption capacities towards phenols with these capacities increased with the increase of molecular weight and the decrease of the solubility of phenol in water. However, no general relationship could be observed between the adsorption capacities of carbons and any of their textural parameters or their surface chemistry. This may be attributed to the many factors controlling phenol adsorption and the different types and mechanisms of adsorption involved.