Metal powder characterization

INTER-PARTICLE FRICTION
❑Inter-particle friction come with two main concerns,
❑Powder flow

❑Packing

❑The friction between particles is dominated by:

❑Surface area, surface roughness and surface chemistry.

❑As the surface area increases the amount of friction in a powder mass increases.
❑Consequently, the particles exhibit less efficient flow and packing.

❑Those concerns are important to automatic die filling during powder compaction as well as
packaging, transportation, blending and mixing.
Metal powder characterization
INTER-PARTICLE FRICTION
❑Resistance to flow is a main feature of friction.

❑The density or packing properties decrease because of poor flow past neighboring particles,
❑Consequently, attention is given to measures of the inter-particle friction.

❑Apparent density or bulk density of a powder is the density (mass/volume) when the powder is in the loose
state without agitation.

❑Tap density is the highest density that can be achieved by vibration or a powder without the application of
external pressure.
Metal powder characterization
INTER-PARTICLE FRICTION
❑Various devices can measure apparent density,
❑Hall flow-meter

❑Scott volumeter

HALL FLOW-METER
❑The Hall flowmeter is used for the coarser particles measuring both the flow rate and the apparent density.

SCOTT VOLUMETER
❑The Scott device is applied to smaller powders which do not freely flow because of a high inter-particle
friction.
METAL POWDER CHARACTERIZATION
INTER-PARTICLE FRICTION
HALL FLOW METER
METAL POWDER CHARACTERIZATION
INTER-PARTICLE FRICTION
Metal powder characterization
INTER-PARTICLE FRICTION
❑The flow rate is usually expressed as the time for 50 g of powder to flow through the Hall
flowmeter.

❑Short flow times indicate free flowing powders while long times indicate high inter-
particle friction.

❑The apparent density and flow times are easily obtained with the Hall flowmeter by
combining a precision volume cup with the funnel.

❑The apparent density is the weight of powder divided by the cup volume.
❑ The precision falls between 1 percent and 5 percent

❑ the typical apparent density is between 30 percent to 60 percent of the theoretical density.
METAL POWDER CHARACTERIZATION
TAP DENSITY
Metal powder characterization
COMPRESSIBILITY
❑ Compressibility measure the ability of powder to densify under applied load.

❑ Die is filled with powder and load of 414 MPa is applied.

❑It is called green density and basis for expressing compressibility.

❑ For iron and steel green density might be 85-90% of theoretical density.

❑ Compression ratio is also used for expressing compressibility

CR=ρg/ρa

CR=Compression ratio, ρa=Apparent density, ρg=Green densit

Relation between compressibility, Hausner ratio and flowability

Compressibility index (%) Flow Character Hausner ratio

˂ 10 Excellent 1.00-1.11
11-15 Good 1.12-1.18
16-20 Fair 1.19-1.25
21-25 Satisfactory 1.26-1.34
26-31 Poor 1.35-1.46
32-37 Very poor 1.46-1.50
˃38 Very, very poor ˃1.50
Tailoring powders for shaping and consolidation

❑It is necessary to tailor specific properties into a powder for easier,

❑ shaping, handling, compaction and sintering.

❑Operations that occur in the pre-compaction stage include,

❑ classification, blending, mixing, agglomeration, de-agglomeration, annealing, cleaning and lubrication.

❑ Generally, the pre-compaction steps are aimed to adjust the powder for easier processing.

❑Consolidation is performed without adequate attention to creating the desired attributes in the powder for
the intended final properties.
POWDER INJECTION MOLDING (PIM)

Steps involved in
powder Injection
molding (PIM)
POWDER INJECTION MOLDING (PIM)
POWDER INJECTION MOLDING (PIM)

The sequence of steps in the molding

cycle
Powder injection molding (PIM)
FORMULATION OF A POWDER-BINDER MIXTURE
Powder injection molding (PIM)
FORMULATION OF A POWDER-BINDER MIXTURE

A low temperature raises the viscosity and can make shaping

difficult. The viscosity versus shear rate behavior is more complex
because of Inertia and friction effects.
POWDER INJECTION MOLDING (PIM)
SHAPING PROCESS
POWDER INJECTION MOLDING (PIM)
SHAPING PROCESS

The relations b/w screw position, system hydraulic pressure and cycle
time during molding. The increase in flow resistance as mold filling occurs
requires a continual increase in pressure as controlled by the screw
position.
Powder injection molding (PIM)
SHAPING PROCESS
❑ The mass flow rate in mold filling Q depends on the applied pressure P and mixture

viscosity ηm,

Q = P / (ηmK)

where the flow resistance K depends on the mold geometry.

❑ For a cylindrical shaping,

K = 128 L / π d4

L = length, d = diameter

❑ For a rectangle of width W and thickness t,

K = L / (W t3)
POWDER INJECTION MOLDING (PIM)
SHAPING PROCESS

A typical peak pressure might be 15 MPa and the total cycle time might
be 20 s, although mold filling often occurs in less than a second.
Powder injection molding (PIM)
SHAPING PROCESS
❑ After molding, the binder is removed from the compact by a process termed de-binding.

❑ There are several options for de-binding, including thermal, solvent and capillary
extraction methods.

❑ For metals, thermal de-binding is used frequently, where the compact is heated slowly to
600 °C in air to decompose the binder and oxidize the particles.

❑ The oxidation process provides handling strength to the compact.

❑ An alternative is to immerse the compact in a solvent that dissolves one of the binder
constituents, leaving some polymer behind to hold the particles in place.