Die casting is a widely used process for the production of Metal Injection Molding-sized parts, but its application is typically for components with lower strength requirements. When the mechanical performance specifications for a die cast component increase, opportunities arise for alternative processes such as MIM to step in. In this case study, Ecrimesa’s Manuel Caballero reviews such a conversion process in which a zinc die cast hinge set is redesigned for production by Metal Injection Molding in 316L stainless steel in order to significantly improve mechanical properties.
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Founded as a press and sinter PM parts maker, Denmark’s Sintex has proactivity in its DNA. Having establishing itself in this field, the company initially expanded into Metal Injection Molding in order to meet customer demand for more complex geometries. In recent years, to be able to meet the need for mass customisation, it has explored metal Binder Jetting. In addition, custom alloys have been optimised for applications that require excellent corrosion resistance. Peter Kjeldsteen, Peter Valler and Poul Søgaard offer insight into the history and future of innovation within the company.
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Since the very first PM Titanium conference in Brisbane, Australia, in 2011, the PMTi series has been the essential meeting point where technical and commercial advances in the powder-based production of titanium parts are discussed. Encompassing production technologies from Metal Injection Molding to Additive Manufacturing, this year’s event was no different. As Dr Thomas Ebel reports, the technologies involved have moved significantly towards production readiness, but with the ever-present playoff of non-negotiable performance goals against the drive to reduce cost.
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Binder Jetting (BJT) is never far from the headlines in the worlds of Powder Metallurgy and Additive Manufacturing, but, whilst there has been a lot of emphasis on Binder Jetting’s build process, the crucial sintering stage has received less attention. Can we really go along with the assumption that it’s ‘just like sintering for Metal Injection Moulding’? Here, Markus Schneider and colleagues from GKN Sinter Metals Engineering GmbH, GKN Additive and Hoeganaes Corporation bring together their deep expertise in sintering to reveal just how differently metal BJT parts perform, and what implications there are for part design and future process optimisation.
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The hardmetals industry is well used to making high-performance components from metallic powders. Today it is an industry with global sales in excess of $15 billion and applications that range from cutting tool inserts to components for oil & gas, construction and beyond. The processing of hardmetals, otherwise known as cemented carbides, by Additive Manufacturing has inevitably become an area of intense activity, building, in part, on expertise from the industry’s use of MIM to deliver greater design complexity. Bernard North reports on innovations in the sinter-based AM of hardmetals presented at this year’s Plansee Seminar.
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After a four-year interruption due to COVID-19, Ceramitec, the leading trade
fair for the ceramics industry, reopened its doors at Messe München, Germany,
from June 21–24, 2022. Whilst noticeably smaller than in previous years, and
with significant gaps in the floor plan from the industrial ceramics sector, the
event appears to have been positive for the technical ceramics community.
Dr Georg Schlieper visited the exhibition for PIM International and reports
on activities of interest to users of Ceramic Injection Moulding and ceramic
Additive Manufacturing technologies.
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There can be few people in Europe’s MIM industry, if not further afield, who are unaware of Prof Dr Frank Petzoldt’s contribution to the development and promotion of the technology over more than three decades. Following his recent retirement from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, Bremen, Germany, Dr Petzoldt spoke with Dr Georg Schlieper about the past, present and future of MIM technology and shares his insight into the industry in both Europe and worldwide.
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As metal Binder Jetting (BJT) transitions from a technology for the future to a technology for now – and one that is increasingly being installed at Metal Injection Moulding producers around the world – one of the basics of the process that we can no longer avoid getting to grips with is saturation. In this article, longtime metal Binder Jetting expert Dan Brunermer, from technology consultancy B-jetting LLC, explains saturation and how to measure it, considers voxels and DPI, and finally presents control options and how choices in controls affect saturation.
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Arburg GmbH + Co KG, Lossburg, Germany, has been working intensively
on sustainability and resource efficiency for a very long time. As the supplier
of the widely used Allrounder line of injection moulding machines, the
company is increasingly active in evaluating climate protection activities
along the entire value chain for its customers. On the basis of ISO TS
14067:2018 – a standard that defines a product’s greenhouse gas emissions
or Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) – Bertram Stern, Sustainability Manager
at Arburg, reports on how the PCF and specific energy requirements of
Arburg injection moulding machines can be calculated.
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Newcomers to Metal Injection Moulding never cease to be amazed when
they see that green parts uniformly shrink during debinding and sintering
into a finished part. This calculated shrinkage, which is what enables
products to conform to an engineer’s blueprints, can appear pretty magical.
It is, of course, simply a matter of mathematical calculation. In this article,
Dr Chiou Yau Hung (Dr Q) and James Chao, from You neeD Technology
Office, Taiwan, encourage you not be scared off by the mathematics and
discover the calculations at the heart of MIM
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