The 2023 International Conference on Injection Moulding of Metals, Ceramics and Carbides (MIM2023), organised by the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF)’s Metal Injection Molding Association (MIMA), was held in Costa Mesa, California, USA, from February 27 to March 1, 2023. As well as being the annual meeting point of the US Metal Injection Molding community, the event attracts an international audience and has broadened in scope to include sinter-based Additive Manufacturing processes. Dr Animesh Bose reviews some highlights from the MIM2023 technical programme.
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This is a story from what once looked like the edge of the metal Additive Manufacturing universe. A decade ago, the idea of a Metal Injection Molding feedstock-like filament for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) was the stuff of beer talk, but then things started to happen. Through a Facebook group called ‘FFF Metal 3D printing’ I discovered what felt like an underground community, driven by the seemingly impossible prospect of ‘printing metal’ on a shoestring budget. Amongst the dramatic images of failed builds and small piles of melted steel, posts by Sascha Lenze stood out. Here, he shares the story of L.B. Bohle Maschinen und Verfahren GmbH’s journey towards the Material Extrusion (MEX) of metal-containing filaments for industrial applications. Welcome to the new frontier!
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This study analyses the potential for large-scale production of Metal Injection Molding (MIM) F75 Co-Cr-Mo alloys using low-carbon atomised powders sintered in industrial-scale continuous furnaces under various atmospheric combinations. The goal was to achieve the required properties without the need for Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) or conventional heat treatments, promising MIM a competitive advantage for the high volume production of parts for consumer electronics and beyond. Hao-Ming Chen and colleagues, from Chenming Electronic Technology Corp. (UNEEC), Taiwan, present their findings.
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Sustainability is a topic that concerns all of us, from individuals to societies and industries. As we face increasingly difficult environmental challenges, discussions about sustainability and our contribution towards it are ongoing in many areas of our daily lives. This is, of course, also true for the Metal Injection Molding industry. Whilst MIM is already considered a green technology compared to alternative processes, there are still considerable opportunities for improvement that can be identified through life cycle assessment and carbon footprint analysis. Dr Frank Petzoldt and Dr Sebastian Boris Hein consider the complex task of evaluating Metal Injection Molding as a green technology within this context.
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Tritone’s MoldJet is unique as an Additive Manufacturing process – not Binder Jetting, Material Extrusion, nor Material Jetting, the MoldJet process involves a number of steps that share features with common sinter-based AM technologies, but don’t quite fall under their definitions. But this isn’t simply a novel fringe technology: Tritone’s founders have drawn on extensive experience within Israel’s 2D and 3D printing ecosystem to build a robust AM platform that is very simple, yet highly sophisticated. Joseph Kowen visited Tritone and here reports on the MoldJet process and its potential applications.
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HP’s Metal Jet has undergone significant refinement in the years since it was first unveiled in 2018. Now, by incorporating nearly the whole Binder Jetting workflow in one solution, HP hopes that the Metal Jet S100 – commercially launched at IMTS 2022 and showcased at Formnext 2022 – will tempt the wider manufacturing community into the world of AM. As Binder Jetting’s evolution moves from the intricacies of process optimisation to real application development and growth, Emily-Jo Hopson-VandenBos reports on a recent visit to HP’s Barcelona 3D Printing campus and the company’s progress and growing momentum since 2018.
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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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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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Type 420 martensitic stainless steel covers a wide carbon range of 0.15% to 0.45%. Demand for this material from the 3C, automotive, biomedical and aerospace industries has been increasing thanks to its combination of moderate corrosion resistance, high hardness, and good tensile properties. In this study, Shu-Hsu Hsieh, Dr Chung-Huei Chueh, and I-Shiuan Chen, from Chenming Electronic Technology Corp. (UNEEC), Taiwan, investigated Nb-alloyed 420 produced using BASF SE’s Catamold 420 W feedstock. Decarburisation was examined in samples processed in both a graphite furnace and a molybdenum lined furnace. Microstructure, phase and hardness variations from the sintered state to each specific stage in heat treatment were also explored. Additionally, the influence of niobium on the formation of intergranular compounds, carbides, and carbonitrides was also assessed in each heat treatment stage for comparison.
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A technical session, comprising three papers, at the Euro PM2021 Virtual Congress, organised by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) and held from October 18–22, 2021, assessed various aspects of the formulation and preparation of feedstocks for Metal Injection Moulding. Dr David Whittaker reports on three papers that addressed solvent debinding efficiency, strategies for enhancing the debinding of polyacetal (POM) feedstocks, and, lastly, an analytical method for enhancing the understanding of the homogeneity of MIM feedstocks and green parts.
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