As compacted metal powders coalesce, and this is before the sintering process, the compressed material is imbued with what’s known as “Green strength.” Remember, the metal particles haven’t bonded yet, haven’t fused with each other. However, the unsintered product is mechanically tough enough to handle machining operations. Those supplementary stages won’t damage the compacted workpiece, […]
The sintering process occurs after a mass of atomized powder has been compacted. Further back, the powder metal has been mixed and blended with a liquid phase. Oils and bonding additives have spread uniformly throughout the mix. A closed die now imparts the amorphous mass its dimensional profile. Now, leaving those profile-forming stages behind, we […]
Sintering technology is ruled by complex engineering equations. There are holding temperatures and material characteristics to regulate, plus a slew of phase transforming processes to regulate. Simply put, there are recipes to follow, and those recipes contain a whole lot of mathematically controlled elements. Nothing is left to chance. Of those many processing variables, sintering […]
Sintering is all about post-compaction heating, about finding a way to control the coalescence of metal powders. Knowing the definition helps, of course, but it doesn’t really tell us what’s taking place within the coalescing mass. That’s a harder system to understand, but its various mechanisms have been examined in some depth. It begins with […]
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 […]
