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.

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.