Metal Injection Moulding often has an aura of mystery around it. Whilst those in the industry understand the technology well, there are many ‘on the outside’ who are more apprehensive. In this article, Declan Coyle takes some of the mystery out of MIM technology in relation to tooling. Having gone through his own ‘MIM initiation’ process when tasked with developing the tooling for Apple’s Lightning connector in 2011, Coyle is well-positioned to offer some practical ‘do and don’t’ suggestions from a tooling engineer’s perspective.
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If you were to place a bet on which country was going to take metal Binder Jetting to the highest volumes of commercial production, China would probably be high on your list. As the world’s manufacturing hub for consumer electronics, China already accounts for nearly half of global MIM sales by value. So with markets on the doorstep, and sintering capacity and metal powder supplies ready and waiting, where’s Binder Jetting in China? Here, Dr Q and Dr James report on developments, including a new Sintering Application Center at BJ–TECH Co. featuring HP’s Metal Jet technology.
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As we start 2024, Greater China’s Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) industry is recovering from a perfect storm of challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t only impact operations at MIM plants, but key markets were adversely affected, reducing production volumes. Furthermore, after more than a decade, Apple – China’s biggest MIM parts consumer – replaced its Lightning connector, a component which required the production of billions of MIM parts. Dr Q (Y H Chiou) reports for PIM International on the changes that are now underway in this, the world’s largest MIM producing region.
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Despite the success of Ceramic Injection Moulding (CIM) in multiple end-user sectors, from luxury watches to automotive interiors and industrial engineering, there remains considerable scope for process optimisation to advance part quality, productivity and overall process capability. As part of the ‘CIM++’ research project, Ceramaret, Primaform and the iRAP institute investigated the potential of a variotherm control system for the CIM process and, as the results presented here demonstrate, significant improvements were achieved.
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Additive Manufacturing’s high geometric flexibility, when combined with the optimised properties of multi-material components, opens up new possibilities for designers and manufacturers. Recently, innovations in the design of the interfaces between different materials presents further opportunities with regard to the functionalisation and miniaturisation of components. In this article, Uwe Scheithauer, Fraunhofer IKTS, and Robert Johne, AMAREA Technology GmbH, explore the potential in the area of ceramic-based components produced using Multi Material Jetting (MMJ) technology.
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Since the earliest days of Metal Injection Moulding’s commercialisation in Europe, in the early 1990s, Swiss company Parmaco Metal Injection Molding AG has been instrumental in perfecting the process for the most advanced applications. As well as a focus on ‘Swiss precision’, producing MIM parts to the highest dimensional accuracy, the company is also renowned for the production of complex microMIM® components. Dr Georg Schlieper reports on a recent visit to the company for PIM International.
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The 4th Workshop on Sinter-based Additive Manufacturing, organised by Fraunhofer IFAM, in Bremen, Germany, took place from September 13-14 2023. It convened global experts to discuss advancements and challenges in the field. The workshop explored the maturation and potential applications of sinter-based AM technologies and highlighted the latest technical advances. Sonja Böske da Costa reports on the workshop’s presentations and discussions.
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Metal Injection Moulding has been the technology of choice for the micro robotics industry for many years, delivering micro-sized precision metal components in medium to high volumes. As the complexity and number of applications increases, there is an opportunity for accelerated product development and more flexible manufacturing through the combination of sinter-based Additive Manufacturing and Computational Engineering. Here, Dr Gerald Mitteramskogler, Josefine Lissner and Dr Stefan Bindl consider how these technologies can be combined for the best possible results.
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The potential of sinter-based Additive Manufacturing for industrial production, along with the diversity of the processes that are being developed, continues to surprise. Switzerland’s Exentis Group AG has taken its own path to commercial success with what it terms ‘Additive Screen Printing’, and its speed and precision is delivering growth and opening up opportunities around the world. Dr Georg Schlieper reports on a recent visit to the company for PIM International.
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Metal Injection Moulding is one of the most capable manufacturing processes for small precision components, yet it is also one of the least well known. MIM parts are everywhere, from smartphones to watches, cars to aircraft – but these examples are rarely noticed by those outside of the industry. Here, we present the 2023 award-winning MIM and sinter-based AM parts from the Metal Powder Industries Federation’s Powder Metallurgy Design Excellence Awards. These examples offer an insight into the technology, as well as the opportunity for product designers and engineers to consider how they might use MIM in their own projects.
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