Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders.PM processes can avoid, or greatly reduce, the need to use metal removal processes, thereby drastically reducing yield losses in manufacture and often resulting in lower costs.
POWDER METALLURGY
Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders.PM processes can avoid, or greatly reduce, the need to use metal removal processes, thereby drastically reducing yield losses in manufacture and often resulting in lower costs.
Powder metallurgy is also used to make unique materials impossible to melt or form in other ways. A very important product of this type is tungsten carbide(WC) . WC is used to cut and form other metals and is made from WC particles bonded with cobalt. It is very widely used in industry for tools of many types and globally ~50,000t/yr is made by PM. Other products include sintered filters, porous oil-impregnated bearings, electrical contacts and diamond tools.
COLD ISOSTATIC PRESSING (CIP):
Cold isostatic pressing (CIP) uses fluid as a means of applying pressure to the mold at room temperature. After removal the part still needs to be sintered.it is the process by which fluid medium especially liquid is preferred as a working medium. It is helpful in distributing pressure uniformly over the compaction material contained in a rubber bag
HOT ISOSTATIC PRESSING (HIP)
Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) compresses and sinters the part simultaneously by applying heat ranging from 900 F(480°C) to 2250 F (1230°9). Argon gas is the most common gas used in HIP because it is an inert gas, thus prevents chemical reactions during the operation.
POWDER METALLURGY PRODUCTS:
The high precision forming capability of PM generates components with near net shape, intricate features and close dimensional precision, finished without the need of machining.
PM is especially suited to the production of large series of pieces with narrow tolerances. By producing parts with a homogeneous structure PM enables manufacturers to make products that are more consistent and predictable in their behaviour across a wide range of applications.
Thanks to its process flexibility PM allows the tailoring of the physical characteristics of a product to suit your specific property and performance requirements. Good performance in stress and absorbing of vibrations as well as special properties such as hardness and wear resistance are a feature of PM components.
