6/3/2014 An overview of the Metal Injection Moulding process

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Fig. 2 The metal injection moulding process
(Courtesy IFAM, Germany)
An overview of the Metal Injection Moulding process
A simple concept, a complex process
The idea to plastify powdered raw materials with the help of thermoplastic additives and
subsequently use injection moulding to form complex components was first developed for ceramic
components.
In the 1970s this process was developed to allow the
processing of metal powders by Raymond Wiech in the
US, widely considered the inventor of the MIM
process. The flow diagram in Fig. 2 shows the
sequence of processing steps.
The principal technological problems that had to be
solved before the MIM process could be industrialised
included:
Production of a homogeneous powder-binder mix
with a high metal powder loading and sufficient
viscosity for injection moulding
Development of economical binder removal
processes providing shape retention
Sintering to high density and dimensional
accuracy.
The key steps
Preparing the feedstock
The primary raw materials for MIM are metal powders
and a thermoplastic binder. The binder is only an intermediate processing aid and removed from the
products after injection moulding. The properties of the powder determine the final properties of the
MIM product.
The blended powder mix is worked into the plastified binder at elevated temperature using a kneader
or shear roll extruder. The intermediate product is the so-called feedstock. It is usually granulated
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with granule sizes of several millimetres, as is common in the plastic injection moulding industry.
Feedstock can either be purchased "ready to mould" from a number of international suppliers, or it
can be manufactured in-house by a MIM producer if the necessary skills and knowledge are available.
Injection moulding
The green MIM parts are formed in an injection moulding process equivalent to the forming of plastic
parts. The variety of part geometries that can be produced by this process are similar to the great
variety of plastic components.
Binder removal
The subsequent binder removal process serves to obtain parts with an interconnected pore network
without destroying the shape of the components. The types of binder removal processes applied are
further explained later in this introduction. At the end of the binder removal process there is often
still some binder present in the parts holding the metal powder particles together, but the pore
network allows to evaporate the residual binder quickly in the initial phase of sintering, at the same
time as sintering necks start to grow between the metallic particles.
Sintering
The sintering process leads to the elimination of most of the pore volume formerly occupied by the
binder. As a consequence, MIM parts exhibit a substantial shrinkage during sintering. The linear
shrinkage is usually as high as 15 to 20% (Fig. 3). If required, sintered MIM parts may be further
processed by conventional metalworking processes like heat treatments or surface treatments in the
same way as cast or wrought parts.
For certain applications, such as the automotive, medical and aerospace sectors, Hot Isostatic
Pressing (HIP) can be used to completely remove any residual porosity. As MIM parts are typically
small, this can be relatively cost effective for critical components.
Fig. 3 MIM part a) as moulded, b) after binder removal, c) after sintering
(Courtesy BASF AG, Germany)

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