13-Dec-21

Other Powder Metallurgy Techniques

Roll Pressing

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Injection Moulding
• Metal is mixed with a thermoplastic binder (up to 50%)
• injected under pressure into heated moulds on standard
injection moulding machines
• binder is removed from the moulded components by thermal
or solvent processing
• Parts are then sintered

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Sintering
• Improve the properties, such as strength and density in a
powder compact .
• Carried out by heating the components to a temperature in the
range 0.5-0.8 of the absolute melting point of the base metal
of a single or multi-component powder system.

Sintering
• The components are heated to a constant temperature under a
controlled atmosphere.
• Time is varied to obtain the desired results.

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Sintering
The sintering temperature and time depends on,
• Compressive load used
• Type of powder
• Strength required of the finished product.

Sintering
Examples:

Type of Powder Sintering Temp.(ºC) Time

• Al & Al alloys 370-500 up to 2.5 hrs
• Cu & Cu alloys 800-900 30 min
• Iron alloys 1100 2 hrs

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During sintering

Following changes can occur,

• Particles begin to bond together, increasing the strength of

the compact as well as its electrical and thermal
conductivity.

During sintering

• As sintering time is extended (or sintering temperature rose),

the strength continuous to increase and shrinkage also
increases.
• The increase in strength is often accomplished by a decrease in
porosity (increase in compact density).

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During sintering
• Grain growth may occur, and the final grain size may be much
larger than the original powder particle size.

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During sintering

• Pores become smoother and more spherical in shape as

sintering progresses.
• In a suitable sintering atmosphere (reducing atmosphere),
absorbed gases are removed from the compact and particle
surface oxides are reduced.

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Sintering Cycle
Temp.
Sintering

Cooling

Time

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Initial heating rate must be selected to evaporate all the lubricant

(wax) from the entire thickness of the compact without
decomposing into carbonaceous residues.

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0.6 – 0.8 Tm

The sintering temperature is usually 60% to 80% of the absolute

melting temperature of the powder

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sintering
• Sintering must be in a protective atmosphere, usually a
reducing atmosphere to prevent excessive oxidation of the
powder surfaces.
• Cooling must be sufficiently slow that thermal distortion is
minimal.

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Pressure less Sintering

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Pressure less Sintering

• The required shape is obtained in the powder mass prior to
sintering without any external pressure.
• Then the mould is heated to the sintering temperature.
• The method is simple and cheap.
• The porosity of the product varies from 50% up to 90% by
volume.

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Pressure less Sintering

• The process is not used for the production of complex parts,
because of:
• the difficulty of part removal from the mould
• flow characteristics of the powder
• Considerable amount of shrinkage during sintering.

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Pressure less Sintering

• This method is used to produce very large ingots which may be
further treated by rolling or forging.

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Sintering Furnaces
Batch type
Continuous type

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Batch type

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Continuous type

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Continuous type

Continuous furnaces have three zones

1)Preheat zone (drying or burn off of entrapped air and
organic lubricants from the green compact)
2)High-heat (sintering) zone
3)Cooling zone

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Repress and re-sinter

Increase the density and the mechanical properties

Hot re-press
More expensive and more difficult.

Sizing (cold re-pressing)

Produces better dimensional accuracy with significant increase in

its density
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Coining

Emboss a pattern on the end surface.

Significantly increases the density and at the same time also

improves the mechanical properties, surface finish and
dimensional accuracy.

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Sinter forging

Hot forged in a closed die

Densification and a change of shape may occur.

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Heat treatment

To improve mechanical properties

Machining

To give high degree of accuracy

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Impregnation

Pores are filled with an organic material

e.g.: Oil, grease, wax: to give self lubricant properties.

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Infiltration

Infiltrant is placed on the surface of the component and passed

through a sintering furnace at a temperature above the melting
point of the infiltrant which melts and flows into the pores

eg. Copper infiltrant on ferrous components

increases strength, hardness, and density by decreasing porosity.

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Application of PM
• Self-lubricating bearings – mixture of Cu, Sn and Fe powders with or
without graphite
• Cemented Carbide (hard metal) tools/dies – WC particles held together by
a ‘cement’ consisting of cobalt
• Magnetic components- using powders of Ni, Co, Al and Fe

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Application of PM
• Porous products like filters and bearing- Brass and bronze powders are
used for producing filters, and Fe, Cu and Sn powders for bearings
• Refractory metal composites (Cermets)- Ceramic particles in metallic
matrix
• e.g. Nozzles for rockets, missiles etc.
• Most of the automotive parts
• e.g. Gears for automobile oil pumps (Fe powder is mixed with graphite)

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Application of PM

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Advantages of PM
• An ability to produce parts directly to finished dimensions, or near net
shaping with minimal material wastage and no machining cast.
• The potential for manufacturing parts with controlled levels of porosity,
useful for producing filters and oil impregnated bearings.
• Metal and non-metals can be mixed in any proportions, e.g. graphite is
added to copper to manufacture of dynamo brushes.

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Advantages of PM
• The wide range of properties such as porosity, density, particle size, purity
can be obtained.
• Alloys not readily machinable in their finished form and yet required to be
produced to their finished shape are more cheaply produced by this
method.
• The possibility of producing alloys incompatible with other processing
options.

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Advantages of PM
• Highly skilled labour is not required.

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Disadvantages and Limitations

• The equipments used for the operation are costly
• The initial cost for the preparation of metallic powder is very
high.
• Parts produced by powder metallurgy have poor ductility.

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Disadvantages and Limitations

• The product size limitation is determined by the capacity of presses, cost of
dies and compression ratio of various powders.
• Not economical for small-scale production
• Metal powders are expensive and, in some cases, difficult to store without
deterioration. Therefore, require special caring to avoid oxidation and
handling facilities.
• Due low flow-ability of metal powders, complicated shapes are difficult to
attain.

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