In this study, the reduction kinetics and behaviors of oxides in the water-atomized iron powder have been evaluated as a function of temperature ranging 850-1000˚C in hydrogen environment, and compared to the reduction behaviors of individual iron oxides including Fe2O3, Fe3O4 and FeO. The water-atomized iron powder contained a significant amount of iron oxides, mainly Fe3O4 and FeO, which were formed as a partially-continuous surface layer and an inner inclusion. During hydrogen reduction, a significant weight loss in the iron powder occurred in the initial stage of 10 min by the reduction of surface oxides, and then further reduction underwent slowly with increasing time. A higher temperature in the hydrogen reduction promoted a high purity of iron powder, but no significant change in the reduction occurred above 950˚C. Sequence reduction process by an alternating environment of hydrogen and inert gases effectively removed the oxide scale in the iron powder, which lowered reduction temperature and/or shortened reduction time.

In this study, powder metallurgy and severe plastic deformation by high-pressure torsion (HPT) approaches were combined to achieve both full density and grain refinement at the same time. Water-atomized pure iron powders were consolidated to disc-shaped samples at room temperature using HPT of 10 GPa up to 3 turns. The resulting microstructural size decreases with increasing strain and reaches a steady-state with nanocrystalline (down to ~250 nm in average grain size) structure. The water-atomized iron powders were deformed plastically as well as fully densified, as high as 99% of relative density by high pressure, resulting in effective grain size refinements and enhanced microhardness values.

In the current study, the effects of particle size on compaction behavior of water-atomized pure iron powders are investigated. The iron powders are assorted into three groups depending on the particle size; 20-45 , 75-106 , and 150-180 for the compaction experiments. The powder compaction procedures are processed with pressure of 200, 400, 600, and 800 MPa in a cylindrical die. After the compaction stage, the group having 150-180 of particle size distribution shows the best densification behavior and reaches the highest green density. The reason for these results can be explained by the largest average grain size in the largest particle group, due to the low plastic deformation resistance in large grain sized materials.

The MIM industry is currently focusing on parts that are used in automobiles and medical instruments. Many of the parts in these categories are very small and often not easy to machine because of its complex geometry. Therefore MIM is well suited for the production of these parts. We tested the sinterability of SUS316L ultra fine powders (3,4, 6, 8micron) produced by ATMIX high-pressure water-atomization, and it showed excellent results. A density of 97% theoretical was obtained by sintering at 1373K when using the ultra fine powder (3micron). Specifically, the finer the powder size, higher was the sintered density. The surface roughness and accuracy are also greatly improved with ATMIX ultra fine powder.

To improve the properties of fine metal powder, such as particle size distribution and geometric standard deviation, this work was done at various atomizing conditions. The new atomization mechanism and the correlation equation were proposed to estimate the mean particle diameter.

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.