The present investigation has been performed on full densification behavior and mechanical property of the powder injection molded Fe-8wt%Ni nanoalloy powder. The net shaping process of the nanopowder was conducted by powder injection molding (PIM) process. The key-process for fabricating fully densified net-shaped nanopowder by pressureless sintering is an optimal control of agglomerate size of nanopowder. Enhanced mechanical property of PIMed Fe-Ni nanopowder is explained by grain refinement and microstructural uniformity.

Densification behavior of nano-agglomerate powder during pressureless sintering of Fe-Ni nanopowder was investigated in terms of diffusion kinetics and microstructural development. To understand the role of agglomerate boundary for sintering process, densification kinetics of Fe-Ni nano-agglomerate powder with different agglomerate size was investigated. It was found that activation energy for densification was lower in the small-sized agglomerate powder. The increase in the volume fraction of inter-agglomerate boundary acting as high diffusion path might be responsible for the enhanced diffusion process.