Powder Metallurgy

Adapted from Jenna Justice lecture

History of Applications
• 3000 B.C. Egyptians made tools with
powder metallurgy
• 1900’s tungsten filament for light bulb
• 1930’s carbide tool materials
• 1960’s automobile parts
• 1980’s aircraft engine turbine parts

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 Applications – Products

Applications - Products

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Advantages
• Ability to create complex shapes
• High strength properties
• Low material waste
• Good microstructure control

Disadvantages
• Creation of residual pores
• High tooling costs

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Karakteristik Serbuk logam

Mechanical Alloying

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Sintering Process
• Uses a sintering atmosphere and a
sintering furnace
• The atmosphere transfers heat to the
compacted powder, adjusts impurity
levels and remove lubricants.
• Atmosphere can be pure hydrogen,
nitrogen or ammonia.

Sintering Process Cont.

• Furnace provides time and temp.
control.

Continuous Furnace

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Sintering on Particles
The particles will
stretch and
densification will
form in places of
rapid shrinking.

Hot Isostatic Pressing

• Produces powder metal parts to near
full density and shapes of varying
complexity.
• Performed in a pressurized fluid.
• Uses lower pressures to densify a
powder by atomic movement.

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Hot Isostatic Pressure System

Steel formed from HIP

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Metal Powder Injection
Molding
Metal injection molding (MIM) is a method of compaction of a
metal powder fed and injected into a mold cavity by means of a
screw rotating in cylinder.
The method is similar to the injection molding of polymers.
The principal scheme of the injection molding method is shown in
the picture:

PM Design Considerations
• Use on parts with 1000 callouts or less
on engineering drawings.
• Production rate of a few thousand per
year.
• Mass range from 1 to 1000 grams

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Applications - Products

Applications

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Applications

Conclusions
Powder metallurgy would be ideal because of
the ability to manufacture parts that are
smooth with complex curves and shapes and
still retain relatively high strength.
More applications will use powder metallurgy in
the future as the process improves and the
parts retain full density.

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