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What are the characteristics and advantages of the MIM process?

Metal powder injection molding technology is a powder metallurgy molding technology formed by the combination of modern plastic injection molding technology and powder metallurgy technology, and has been rapidly promoted. Its basic technological process is: firstly, the micro metal elements or alloy powder and polymer organic binder are mixed into a uniform viscoplastic fluid in a certain proportion and process at a certain temperature, then they are injected into the mold cavity by the injection molding machine under the heating state for condensation forming, and then the binder in the forming blank is removed by chemical dissolution or thermal decomposition, and finally the high-performance alloy products are formed by sintering and densification. The biggest feature of this technology is that it can directly manufacture parts with final shape. Its products not only have high dimensional accuracy, uniform organization, excellent performance, and high production efficiency, but also are easy to realize automatic continuous operation. The manufactured parts almost do not need machining, the material utilization rate is almost 100%, and its production cost is only 20% – 60% of the traditional forming process.

Advantages of MIM process

Parts with highly complex structures can be molded. The injection molding machine is used to inject the product blanks, ensuring that the materials fully fill the mold cavity, which also ensures the realization of highly complex structures of parts. In the past, in the traditional processing technology, individual components were made first and then assembled into components. When using the M M technology, it can be considered to integrate into a complete single part, greatly reducing the processing steps and simplifying the processing program.

The dimensional accuracy of the products is high. No secondary processing or a small amount of finishing is required. The injection molding process can directly form thin-walled and complex structural parts. The shape of the products is close to the requirements of the final products. The dimensional tolerance of the parts is generally maintained at ± 0.1% – ± 0.3%. Especially, it is of great significance to reduce the processing cost of cemented carbide that is difficult to machine, and to reduce the processing loss of precious metals.

The product has uniform microstructure, high density and good performance. The injection molding process is a fluid molding process. The existence of the adhesive ensures the uniform distribution of the powder so as to eliminate the non-uniformity of the blank microstructure, thus making the sintered product density reach the theoretical density of its material.

Generally, the maximum density of pressed products can only reach 85% of the theoretical density. High density can increase strength and toughness, improve ductility, conductivity and thermal conductivity, and improve magnetic properties.

High efficiency, easy to achieve mass and large-scale production. The life of metal mold used by MIM technology is equivalent to that of engineering plastic injection molding tools. Due to the use of metal dies, MIM is suitable for mass production of parts. The use of injection molding machine to shape product blanks has greatly improved production efficiency, reduced production costs, and the consistency and repeatability of injection molding products are good, thus providing a guarantee for large batch and large-scale industrial production.

The range of applicable materials is wide and the application field is broad. The materials that can be used for injection molding are very wide. In principle, any powder materials that can be sintered at high temperature can be made into parts by MIM process, including difficult to machine materials and high melting point materials in traditional manufacturing process. In addition, MIM can also research the material formula according to the user’s requirements, manufacture any combination of alloy materials, and shape the composite materials into parts.

The application fields of injection molded products have spread all over the national economy and have broad market prospects. Performance and cost analysis of MIM process The MIM process uses micron sized fine powder, which can not only accelerate the sintering shrinkage, help improve the mechanical properties of materials, extend the fatigue life of materials, but also improve the stress corrosion resistance and magnetic properties. For hard, brittle and difficult to cut materials or parts with complex geometry and segregation or pollution of raw materials during casting, MIM process can greatly save costs.

Taking the processing of the guide rod of the printing element of the typewriter as an example, the conventional processing usually requires 14 processes, while the MIM process only requires 6 processes, which can save about half of the cost. When the ratio of material cost to manufacturing cost increases, the potential cost can be reduced even more. Therefore, the smaller and more complex the parts are, the better the economic benefits will be.

Whether the MIM process can be formed is closely related to the selection of sintering equipment. Only equipment capable of stable and uniform sintering can ensure the quality of final products.

Selection of MIM sintering equipment: The RVS vacuum sintering furnace provided by SIMUWU is a high-quality product for processing MIM process. It has the characteristics of good temperature uniformity, high temperature control accuracy, and efficient glue removal system. SIMUWU focuses on the manufacturing of vacuum furnaces, has more than ten years of relevant experience, and has a good reputation in the field of vacuum furnace manufacturing. The product line includes vacuum gas quenching furnace, vacuum oil quenching furnace, vacuum brazing furnace, etc., which are widely sold in developed and developing countries. SIMUWU provides a professional team of engineers who can solve various problems encountered in the production process and are committed to providing customers with the most convenient and fast experience.