In order to obtain specific magnetic properties, it is of paramount importance to increase the alloy density of components fabricated by powder metallurgy. An alternative to increase the density of alloys such as Fe-49Co-2V would be the use of elemental Fe and Co instead of the pre-alloyed powder. Trying to give some insight on the industrial application of this strategy, this paper investigates the replacement of more conventional pre-alloyed Fe-49Co-2V powders with elemental Fe and Co. A previous analysis shows that it is possible to achieve higher densities and leads to a noticeable improvement in some important magnetic properties.

Ceramic Injection Moulding (CIM) technology has been successfully used for the fabrication of Mn-Zn Ferrite part. The binder was composed by polypropylene and paraffin wax. The optimal powder loading (58% vol.) was determined by means of rheological measurements. Threedifferent parts, toroids, bending and tensile probes were injected. Thermal and solvent-thermal debinding was designed based on DSC and TGA studies of the binder. The time of the debinding cycle was reduced using n-heptane to dissolve previously the paraffin wax. Final properties have been determined and compared with uniaxial pressure parts values. The densities obtained were slightly higher than those of uniaxial pressure parts and the magnetic properties presented similar values.

In this communication the development of a new metal injection moulding (MIM) system for duplex stainless steels is presented. The metal powders were prepared by premixing 316L and 430L stainless steels gas atomised powders in a ratio of 50:50. The binder used to prepare the feedstock was composed by HDPE and paraffin wax. Torque measurements of the mixture indicated that the maximum amount of metal was 68 vol%. The polymeric part was driven off by thermal debinding and the sintering was performed in low vacuum. The final densities were close to the theoretical ones.

The MIM technology is an alternative process for fabricating near net shape components that usually uses gas atomised powders with small size (< 20 μm) and spherical shape. In this work, the possibility of changing partially or totally spherical powder by an irregular and/or coarse one that is cheaper than the former was investigated. In this way, different bronze 90/10 components were fabricated by mixing three different types of powder, gas and water atomised with different particle sizes, in order to evaluate how the particle shape and size affect the MIM process.

M390 microclean(R) of Edelstahl is a powder metallurgical plastic mould steel with a high level of corrosion and wear resistance and therefore often used in the plastics processing industry. But as a consequence of rapidly advancing developments in the plastics processing industry the required level of wear resistance of tool steels in this field is constantly rising. For that reason a new PM tool steel with higher hardness values and an increased amount of primary carbides has been developed to improve the resistance against abrasive and adhesive wear. The wear resistance of both steels against adhesive situations for components of the plastification unit of injection moulding machines has been tested with a novel method. In case of processing polyolefins with an injection moulding machine it was found that there is adhesive wear between the check-ring and the flights of the screw tip of the non-return valve under certain circumstances. The temperature in that region was measured with an infrared temperature sensor. The existence of significant peaks of that signal was used as an indicator for an adhesive wear situation.

The global metal injection moulding industry is getting mature. The technology is on its way to grow from a niche technology to a widely accepted manufacturing process. This paper addresses the latest technological trends in MIM. Challenges in materials development as well as the current limits of the technology are discussed. Trends in processing like 2-component injection moulding and micro injection moulding are presented. The European MIM market situation is described and some key factors for business success are addressed. In the discussion of future business opportunities best practice examples are included.

In this present investigation, Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) of M2 High Speed Steel (HSS) parts using a wax-High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) binder is shown. The elimination of organic binder was carried out by thermal debinding under inert atmosphere. In order to keep carbon in the sample that could improve the sintering process, incomplete debinding was performed between 450 and . The specimens were sintered at temperatures between 1210 and in high vacuum atmosphere, obtaining the 98% of the theoretical density. In the samples with higher residual carbon content, the sintering window was extended up to 20 degrees and the optimum temperature was lower.