Category: Blog

Exotic energies are at work when powdered metal particles are compressed. Further back, even stranger reactions take place in a mixing chamber, where fluid dynamic forces regulate the early stages of the powder metallurgy process. No worries, though, to a process engineer and his technician team, every physical and fluid-based law is intimately known and […]

Exotic recipes blend to create hardened products in the powder metallurgy sector. They’re packed with enigmatic chemical compounds. They flow in and around the metal particles so that the granules disseminate evenly and easily find their way into a die assembly. There’s no clumping, no material friction or substance stickiness to impede the process, not […]

During the sintering process, as applied to powdered metals, a densely packed, cavity-shaped cluster of machine-pulverized particles plasticizes and diffuses. They do not melt. That’s a common misconception. Now, assuming an optimal sintering temperature is employed, the compacted grains experience the material diffusion cycle. They solidify. However, process temperatures can go awry. On knowing this […]

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 […]

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 […]