Archive: 2018

Imagine the powder metallurgical process as a series of illustrated steps. The powders and additives mix, then they’re formed and sintered. The process is clearly marked out in the various illustrations. Adding another illustrated block to the process, infiltration action strengthens powder metal components. Basically, the technique adds a second metal to the part, and […]

There’s a tendency to put self-lubricating bearings in their own applications spotlight. Alternatively, given the chance, curious would-be engineers should try giving other powdered metal parts their chance to shine. Granted, bearing technology owes a lot to powder metallurgy, but there is a whole other range of equally capable powder-fabricated products, all of which use […]

Historically speaking, powdered metals are recognized as moderately strong materials. They form relatively hard bearings and other self-lubricating items. By heat treating sintered metal parts, they become even tougher. In point of fact, the sintering process uses thermal energy and pressure, so some heat treated hardenability is applied during the production phase. Okay, this strength-conversion […]

Shaft runout is described as a centreline deviation issue. To illustrate this drive transmission glitch, imagine the rod of a drive shaft. It moves around its axis, always. Should the drive rod’s centre of radial motion stray, it’ll develop runout. This drift movement is clearly undesirable. Nonetheless, runout problems and misalignment errors can occur in […]

Based on powder metallurgy technology, sintered bronze bearings deliver a very familiar feature. That opening sentence is, of course, referring to the material’s porous build. Friction counteracting lubricants are stored inside the metal’s tiny chambers. Okay, so this general property gets mentioned in every article, because that’s what the bearings do best, but there’s more […]

Let’s match two manufacturing giants, toe-to-toe and kilo for kilo. On one side, there’s the machining industry. It’s not going anywhere, but there are certainly times when this sector could benefit from a few process-oriented refinements. As for the competitor, this is a heavyweight. Sintering technology is, by its very nature, a refined and economical […]

Processing plants use catalysts to trigger active chemical reactions. The material makeup of this substance makes it possible for previously unsustainable compound alterations to take place. Alternatively, catalysts accelerate existing chemical reactions. Once upon a time, as all stories begin, solid metals were used to facilitate such processes. They transformed compounds, acted as oxidisers, and […]

Powder Metallurgy equipment is gaining traction, which is to say the gear is finding its way into more industrial settings. Is this because there’s no forging equipment to operate? Developed as a powder compaction process, there’s no furnace or poured metals, which then have to cool before they can be ejected from their castings. No, […]

On occasion, when sintered components need to exhibit a predetermined quantity of mechanical toughness, the parts are subjected to special supplementary operations. The finishing service, which is typically carried out in-house, further hardens a sintered component’s internal structure. Now, heat treatment principles obviously dominate this post-production phase, but there are other secondary hardening methods of […]

Powder metallurgy represents something of an ideal production model. There are no costly castings to produce, and the bearings possess a highly desirable self-lubricating feature. It’s also possible to make sintered bearings without incorporating a post-production stage, although this part of the operation is often recommended. With that said, apart from the end-phase jobs that […]