In this study the nanostructured ceramics have been fabricated by the combined application of magnetic pulsed compaction (MPC) and subsequent spark plasma sintering (SPS), and their density and hardness properties were investigated. The prepared by the combined processes showed an increase by in density, approaching the value close to the true density, and an enhancement by in hardness, compared to those fabricated by MPC or static compaction method followed by sintering treatment.

In order to improve mechanical properties, the hypereutectic Al-20 wt%Si based prealloy powder was prepared by gas atomization process. Microstructure and compressibility of the atomized Al-Si powder were investigated. The average powder size was decreased with increasing the atomization gas pressure. Size of primary Si particles of the as-atomized powder was about . The as-atomized Al-Si powder such as AMB 2712 and AMB 7775 to increase compressibility and sinterability. Relative density of the mixed powder samples sintered at was reached about 96% of a theoretical density.

Crack generation during die compaction and distortion during sintering have been critical problems for the conventional pressing and sintering process. Until now, trial and error approach with engineers' industrial experiences has been only solution to protect the crack generation and distortion. However, with complexity in shape and process it is very difficult to design process conditions without CAE analysis. We developed the exclusive CAE software (PMsolver/Compaction) for die compaction process. The accuracy of PMsolver is verified by comparing the finite element simulation results with experimental results. The simplified procedures to find material properties are proposed and verified with iron based powder and tungsten carbide powder. Based on the accurate simulation result by PMsolver, the optimal process conditions are designed to get uniform density distribution in a powder compact after die compaction process by using a derivative based optimization scheme. In addition, the effect of non-uniform density distribution in a powder compact on distortion during sintering is shown in case of the fabrication of tungsten carbide insert.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the method decreasing debinding time as well as lowering operation condition than pure supercritical debinding by using cosolvent or binary mixture of propane + . First method is to add cosolvent, such as n-hexane, DCM, methanol, 1-butanol, in supercritical . In case of adding cosolvent, we were found the addition of non-polar cosolvent (n-hexane) improves dramatically the binder removal rate (more than 2 times) compared with pure supercritical debinding, second method is to use mixture of supercritical propane + , as solvent. In case of using mixture of supercritical propane + , the rate of debinding speeded up with increasing of pressure and concentration of propane at 348.15 K. It was found that addition of cosolvent (e.g., n-hexane, DCM) and binary mixture propane + for supercritical solvent remarkably improved binder removal rate for the paraffin wax-based binder system, in comparison with using pure supercritical .

Defining the relationship between the quality of injection molded parts and the process condition is very complicate because of lots of factor are involved and each factor has a non-linearity. With the development of CAE(Computer Aided Engineering) technology, the estimation of volumetric shrinkage of injection mold parts is possible by computer simulation even though restricted application. In this research, the Taguchi method and Neural Network applied for finding optimal processing condition. The percent of volumetric shrinkage compared on each case and show neural network can be successfully applied.

CAE technology is an integrated tool including all aspects such as powder, binder system, mixing, injection molding, debinding and sintering. Therefore, CAE technology is considered as one of core technologies for PIM industry in the future. Recently many researchers are developing not only CAE software itself but also application procedures of CAE software. In this study, the applications for CAE technology in PIM industry are presented including feedstock mixing effect, several cases of troubleshooting and optimization procedure.

In this paper we presented numerical method for the simulation of powder injection molding filling process, which is one of the key processes in powder injection molding. Rheological properties of powder binder mixture such as slip phenomena and yield stress were introduced into the numerical analysis model of powder injection molding filling simulation. Numerical model can be classified into two types. One is 2.5D model which can be introduced to a arbitrary thin geometry and the other is full 3D model which can be applied to a general 3D shape. For 2.5D model we showed the validity of our CAE system with several verification examples. Finally we suggested flow analysis model for 3D powder injection molding filling simulation.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the influence of thermal debinding and sintering conditions on the sintering behavior and mechanical properties of PIMed 316L stainless steel. The water atomized powders were mixed with multi-component wax-base binder system, injection molded into flat tensile specimens. Binder was removed by solvent immersion method followed by thermal debinding, which was carried out in air and hydrogen atmospheres. Sintering was done in hydrogen for 1 hour at temperatures ranging from 1000℃ to 1350℃ The weight loss, residual carbon and oxygen contents were monitored at each stage of debinding and sintering processes. Tensile properties of the sintered specimen varied depending on the densification and the characteristics of the grain boundaries, which includes the pore morphology and residual oxides at the boundaries. The sinter density, tensile strength (UTS), and elongation to fracture of the optimized specimen were 95%, 540 MPa, and 53%, respectively.