Sintered Bearings

Above and around the powdered metal, the sintering atmosphere is also being regulated. Now, if someone were to ask, “What gas is used to control the different sintering vectors,” the answer wouldn’t be short. You see, the equipment used to sinter metals is composed of several discrete stages. So, for every equipment zone, there’s a […]

Scientific precision shapes Powder metallurgy processing. While a post about compaction basics could get away with describing the process in a few simple lines of text, these rudimentary descriptions would fail to capture the complexities that arise as a powder pressing operation proceeds. Right now, with a precision-based approach foremost, we’re going to delve deep […]

Back at the compaction chamber, two alternative pressing systems are available. In the hot pressing method, elevated temperatures are used. It’s a dual-process operation, with the powdered metal compacting, then it sinters. Almost solid, just slightly porous, the combined processing approach yields tool quality results. Alternatively, cold pressing is done without heat. That latter phase […]

This phase of the powder metallurgy process hasn’t received adequate attention. Here’s an opportunity to remedy that oversight. Actually, that’s not quite true, past articles have described the electric arc phase, but that’s hardly the only option. Grabbing this chance with both hands, let’s delve deeper into the powder dispersing options. What Is Powder Atomization? […]

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 […]