Multicomponent powder injection moulding combines metals and ceramics
Fraunhofer IKTS, the Dresden-based research centre for development of advanced ceramics and hard materials, reports that it has successfully demonstrated the manufacture of steel-ceramic composites using multicomponent powder injection moulding (PIM) followed by co-sintering.
The potential of multicomponent PIM for miniaturisation and multifunctionality in a single component was demonstrated in a research project in cooperation with other research institutes and industry partners by combining a sintered magnetic stainless steel (430) with yttria stabilized zirconia (PSZ).
The multicomponent PIM process will allow the large scale production of complex near net shaped parts at a high level of automation. IKTS states that the prerequisite for successful manufacture of composite components is an adjusted sintering and shrinking behaviour as well as a compatible thermal expansion coefficient of each component [Patent DE 19652223].
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