At present, powder metallurgy is recognized by the industry as a green and sustainable manufacturing process technology. The powder metallurgy process requires fewer processes to manufacture the same parts, that is, more processes and more complex processes can be performed. MIM metal injection molding is a micro-injection molding of powder. In order to facilitate the manufacture of microstructures, due to the increase in the specific surface area of the powder, a binder with low viscosity but sufficient strength is required.

General powder metallurgy:

1. Material durability.

In terms of material durability, the final forming ability of powder metallurgy is its main advantage. For example, when forming tooth-shaped parts, up to 40% of the material in the traditional cutting process becomes chips, and 85% of all powder used in powder metallurgy is made from recycled materials. In the production process of powder metallurgy parts, the waste loss of each process is usually below 3%, and the material utilization rate can reach 95%.

2. Energy sustainability.

In terms of energy sustainability, the general traditional manufacturing process requires multiple heating and reheating processes to form the final shape; when the atomization method is used to produce steel powder or iron powder, It only needs to melt the scrap steel once, and all other processing work is carried out at a temperature below the melting point, which not only saves energy, but also can be made into the final shape and required material and mechanical properties. By comparing the material utilization rate of the metal forming process, it can be seen that the energy required to manufacture powder metallurgy parts is 44% of forging and cutting parts.

3. Environmental sustainability.

In terms of environmental sustainability, due to the final molding characteristics of powder metallurgy, in general, finished parts are made after sintering, which can be packaged and delivered. In most cases, the cutting oil used in the processing of powder metallurgy products is negligible, and there are few toxic pollutants released by pollution sources such as cooling water. Compared with other manufacturing processes, the powder metallurgy parts industry has almost no harm to the environment.

MIN powder micro-injection molding technology is a molding technology developed on the basis of traditional powder injection molding technology, which is suitable for parts with a size less than 1 micron. It is mainly used to continuously manufacture parts with microstructured surfaces and microstructures. The basic process steps are basically the same as those of traditional powder injection molding. By selecting the original powder and suitable sintering conditions, the surface quality and porosity of the part can be controlled. In order to avoid warpage, cracks and bubbles, MIM metal injection molding technology has higher requirements for debinding and sintering process conditions.