Powder injection molding of pure titanium

An improved wax-based binder was developed for powder injection molding of pure titanium. A critical powder loading of 69 vol.% and a pseudo-plastic flow behavior were obtained by the feedstock based on the binder. The injection molding, debinding, and sintering process were studied. An ideal control of carbon and oxygen contents was achieved by thermal debinding in vacuum atmosphere （10^-3 Pa）. The mechanical properties of as-sintered specimens were less than those of titanium made by the conventional press-sintering process. Good shape retention and ±0.04 mm dimension deviation were achieved.

Preparation of high nitrogen and nickel-free austenitic stainless steel by powder injection molding

High nitrogen and nickel-free austenitic stainless steel has received much recognition worldwide because it can solve the problem of ＂nickel-allergy＂ and has outstanding mechanical and physical properties. In this article, 0Cr17Mn11Mo3N was prepared by powder injection molding （PIM） technique accompanied with solid-nitriding. The results show that the critical solid loading can achieve up to 64vol% by use of gas-atomized powders with the average size of 17.4 μm. The optimized sintefing conditions are determined to be 1300℃,2 h in flowing nitrogen atmosphere, at which the relative density reaches to 99% and the N content is as high as 0.78wt%. After solution annealing at 1150℃for 90 rain and water quench, the 0.2% yield strength, ultimate tensile strength （UTS）, elongation, reduction in area, and hardness can reach as high as 580 MPa, 885 MPa, 26.0%, 29.1%, and Hv 222, respectively.

Powder Extrusion Molding of Nanocrystalline WC-10Co Composite Cemented Carbide

The rods that were shaped from nanocrystalline WC- 10.21 Co-0.42 VC/ Cr3 C2 （ wt% ） composite powders by using powder extrusion molding （PEM） were investigated. The nanocrystalline WC- 10.21 Co- 0. 42 VC/ Cr3 C2 （ wt% ） composite powders were prepared by the spray thermal decomposition-continuous reduction and carburization technology. In order to improve the properties of rods shaped by using powder extrusion molding, the cold isostatic pressing （CIP） technology was used before or after debinding. Specimens were siutered by vacuum siutering and hot isostatic pressing （HIP）. The density, Rockwell A hardness, magnetic coercivity , and magnetic saturation induction of siutered specimen were measured. The microstructure of the green bodies and the siutered specimens was studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Results show that the rod formed by using powder extrusion molding after debinding and followed by cold isostatic pressing can be siutered to 99.5% density of composite cemented carbide rods with an average grain size of about 200- 300 nm, magnetic coercivity of 30.4 KA / m, Rockwell A hardness of 92.6 and magnetic saturation induction of 85% . Superfine WC- 10 Co cemented carbide rods with excellent properties were obtained.

Microstructure and properties of nano-TiN modified Ti(C,N)-based cermets fabricated by powder injection molding and die pressing

Powder injection molding （PIM） and die pressing were employed to fabricate nano-TiN modified Ti（C,N）- based cermets. The shrinkage behavior, microstructure, porosity, and mechanical properties of the samples with and without nano-TiN addition fabricated by PIM and die pressing were analyzed. It is demonstrated that for either PIM or die pressing, the porosities are obviously reduced, the mechanical properties are significantly improved after adding nano-TiN, and the hard particles are refined; the rim phase thickness obviously becomes thinner, and the number of dimples in fracture also increases. Compared the samples fabricated by die pressing, it is difficult for PIM to obtain dense Ti（C,N）-based cermets. Due to the too much existence of pores and isolated carbon, the mechanical properties of the sintered samples by PIM are inferior to those of the sintered ones by die pressing.

Fabrication and properties of binder for powder extrusion molding

By optimizing formulation and fabrication methods, a new binder forplasticizing powder extrusion molding of hard metal, with excellent integrated properties anduniform distribution characters, has been developed. Thermal debonding mechanism and the extrudingtheological behaviours have been studied. The technology of fabrication of binder and thermaldebonding process have also been investigated. Using the novel binder, the hard-metalextrusion-molding rods with diameter up to 25mm, have been manufactured.

Sintering Mechanism of Stainless Steel in Powder Injection Molding

Stainless steel samples were made by Powder injection Molding (PIM) process with-400 mesh powder in order to investigate the sintering mechanism in this system and develop the PIM of stainless steels. The process included mixing, injection molding, debin- ding and sintering. Neck growth model was used to analyze the sintering mechanism. The results show that lattice (volume) diffusion is the main mechanism in the sintering process, the products with higher density (>95%) and properties are obtained. At lower temperatures, grain boundary diffusion may play a role in the sintering densification.

Water modeling of mold powder entrapment in slab continuous casting mold

The optimal parameters were determined by the water modeling of slab casting. It was found that there are mainly three types of mold powder entrapment in slab continuous casting, i.e., the entrapment caused by the shearing flow near the narrow face of mold, the entrapment caused by vortexes around the submerged entry nozzle （SEN）, and the entrapment caused by the Ar bubbling. Both the velocity of the surface flow and the level fluctuation of the liquids are enlarged with increasing the casting speed, reducing the submersion depth of SEN, decreasing the downward angles of the nozzle outlets, and increasing the Ar flowrate, all of which increase the tendency of mold powder entrapment. Among the four above-mentioned factors, casting speed has the largest effect.

Injection molding of micro-porous titanium alloy with space holder technique

The powder space holder （PSH） and powder injection molding （PIM） methods have an industrial competitive advantage because they are capable of the net-shape production of micro-sized porous parts. In this study, micro-porous Ti6Al4V alloy （Ti64） parts were produced by the PSH-PIM process. Ti64 alloy powder and spherical polymethylrnethacrylate （PMMA） particles were used as a space holder material. After molding, binder debinding was performed by thermal method under inert gas. Debinded samples were sintered at 1250℃ for 60min in a vacuum （10-4 Pa）. Metallographic studies were conducted to determine densification and the corresponding microstructural changes. The surface of sintered samples was examined by SEM. The compressive stress and elastic modulus of the rificro-porous Ti64 samples were determined. The effects of fraction of PMMA on the properties of sintered micro-porous Ti64 alloy samples were investigated. It was shown that the fraction of PMMA could be controlled to affect the properties of the Ti alloy.

Effects of heat treatment on the properties of powder injection molded AlN ceramics

The effects of two different heat-treatment atmospheres,nitrogen atmosphere and reducing nitrogen atmosphere with carbon,on the properties of Y2O3-doped aluminum nitride（AlN） ceramics were investigated.The AlN powder as a raw material was synthesized by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis（SHS） and compacts were fabricated by employing powder injection molding technique.The polymer-wax binder consisted of 60 wt.% paraffin wax（PW）,35 wt.% polypropylene（PP）,and 5 wt.% stearic acid（SA）.After the removal of binder,specimens were sintered at 1850°С in nitrogen atmosphere under atmospheric pressure.To improve the thermal conductivity,sintered samples were reheated.The result reveals that the heat-treatment atmosphere has significant effect on the properties and secondary phase of AlN ceramics.The thermal conductivity and density of AlN ceramics reheated in nitrogen gas are 180 W·m^-1·K^-1 and 3.28 g·cm^-3 and the secondary phase is yttrium aluminate.For the sample reheated in reducing nitrogen atmosphere with carbon,the thermal conductivity and density are 173 W·m^-1·K^-1 and 3.23 g·cm^-3,respectively,and the secondary phase is YN.

Evaluation of the performance of mold powder for continuous casting of plate slabs

The No. 3 slab caster,which mainly provides slabs to the 5000 mm plate mill at Baosteel, was put into production in December,2004. The size of the biggest slab produced by this caster is 2300 mm in width and 300 mm in thickness. The designed output of the caster is 2.3 Mt/a. Slab surface longitudinal crack defects,which were related to the heat flux of the mold, frequently occurred in the early stage of the startup of the caster. As mild cooling powder is beneficial to the uniformity of the shell of initial slabs ,the concentration of stress is reduced, and the longitudinal cracking on the surface is avoided. This study evaluates the performance of several kinds of powder, and the results show that mold powder of high basicity, high crystallization proportion and low heat flux is to the benefit of the reduction of the longitudinal cracks on the surface and the defects of slabs.

Development and application of fluorine-free mold powder for low carbon steel

Fluorine in mold powder is known as harmful to human health and the environment. Being the advocate of green production, Baosteel developed an environmentally friendly mold powder without fluorine. The main problem of fluorine-free flux film is small heat resistance and thus the heat transfer intensity of the mold is too large, which to some extent hinders the increase of the casting speed. With the heat flow simulation equipment, controlling precipitation of crystal in flux and solidification temperature properly, fluorine-free mold powder for low carbon steel,which substitutes F with B203 ,was successfully developed and applied in industrial production. The production results show that, by using boronic fluorine-free mold powder,the boron increment in molten steel is less than 1.3ppm for conventional aluminium killed low carbon steel.

Rheologic behavior and PIM processing of WC-TiC-Co powder feedstock

An improved wax-based binder was developed for the powder injection molding (PIM) of WC-TiC-Co cemented carbides. The critical powder loading and the rheologic behavior of the feedstock were determined. It was found that the critical powder loading could achieve up to 62.5% (volume fraction) and the feedstock exhibited a pseudo-plastic flow behavior. The injection molding, debinding and sintering processes were studied. The dimension deviation of the sintered samples could be controlled in the range of ±0.2% with the optimized processing parameters and the mechanical properties were better than or equivalent to those of the same alloy made by conventional press-sintering process.

Rheologic behavior and PIM processing of WC-TiC-Co powder feedstock

An improved wax-based binder was developed for the powder injection molding(PIM) of WC-TiC-Co cemented carbides. The critical powder loading and the rheologic behavior of thefeedstock were determined. It was found that the critical powder loading could achieve up to 62.5percent (volume fraction) and the feedstock exhibited a pseudo-plastic flow behavior. The injectionmolding, debinding and sintering processes were studied. The dimension deviation of the sinteredsamples could be controlled in the range of + -0.2 percent with the optimized processing parametersand the mechanical properties were better than or equivalent to those of the same alloy made byconventional press-sintering process.

Mathematical model and numerical investigation of the influence of spray drying parameters on granule sizes of mold powder

In this work,the formation mechanism of the droplet-to-granule was investigated in detail based on mold powder manufacturing.A specific mathematical model of two-stage spray drying was established to describe droplet and granule motion,heat and mass transfer,and granule morphology during spray drying.Then,the relationships between spray drying parameters(inlet temperature,atomization pres-sure,slurry mass flow rate)and the properties of the drying tower(temperature and velocity fields)and mold powder granules(temperature,evaporation rates,moisture content,and diameter)were simulated and calculated using ANSYS/Fluent software.To ensure that the granule size of mold powder was controlled within the ideal range(0.2-0.6 mm)for producing granules with appropriate mechanical and metallurgical properties,the following optimum spray drying parameters were chosen based on the results of the numerical simulation:inlet temperatures,873 K;slurry atomization pressure,1.8 MPa;slurry mass flow rate,0.05 kg s-1.Among these parameters,the slurry mass flow rate has the most significant effect on granule size.

Influence of binder composition on the rheological behavior of injection-molded microsized SiC suspensions

The influence of four kinds of binders consisting of paraffin wax （PW）, random-polypropylene （RPP）, high-density polyethylene （HDPE）, and stearic acid （SA） on the theological behavior of injection-molded SiC feedstocks was investigated over a temperature range of 150℃ to 180℃ and a shear rate range of 4 s^-1 to 1259 s^^-1. The results showed that all the feedstocks exhibited pseudoplastic flow behavior. The wax-based binder of multipolymer components （PW-RPP-HDPE） exhibited better comprehensive rheological properties compared with the binder of monopolymer components （PW-RPP or PW-HDPE）. The addition of 5wt% SA to the binder could reduce the viscosity of the feedstock but enhance the rheological stability by improving the wettability between the binder and the SiC powder. The binder of 65wt% PW ＋ 15wt% HDPE ＋ 15wt% RPP ＋ 5wt% SA was found to be a better binder for microsized SiC injection molding.

Experimental Research on Oxidation Refining of Ferrosilicon

This paper explained the mechanism of carbon pickup by ultra low carbon steels during continuous casting and indicated that the major cause of carbon pickup is the contact of the molten steel with the enriched carbon layer of the powder. Forming of the enriched carbon layer is due to the existing of “carbon core”. Accordingly, the measures to reduce the carbon content and amount of the enriched carbon layer were investigated. A kind of new powder has been developed and successfully used to minimize the carbon pickup by ultra low carbon steels during continuous casting.

Research on Oxygen Sensor for Metallurgical Process

A new technique for manufacture of the oxygen sensor used for metallurgical process has been developed.The powder of MgO-PSZ was prepared by coprecipitation.The MgOPSZ tube was prepared by powder injection molding(PIM).The final sintered tube was assembled into oxygen cell,then tested in laboratory and on RH vessel.The results showed that the thermal shock resistance of MgO-PSZ matrix is strong enough for determining the active oxygen concentration in steel melt.The reproducibility of the EMF measurement is very good.The structure of the tube has been analysed by means of SEM and XRD.In addition,the characteristics such as the density and phase ratio in the product were compared with that of Shijiazhuang Maple Wood Sensor Company s product.

Study on ceramic photonic bandgap structure with three-dimensional diamond lattice

A novel process, which was based on powder injection molding, was investigated for the fabrication of ceramic photonic bandgap structure with three-dimensional diamond lattice. The SiO2-TiO2 ceramic powder was mixed with a water-soluble agent to produce slurry. The slurry was then injected into an epoxy mold with inverse diamond lattice, fabricated by the stereolitographic rapid prototyping process. To increase the density of the green compact, cold isostatic pressing was applied on the unit. Using thermal debinding, the water-soluble agent and the epoxy were extracted at 360 and 650 K, respectively. Sintering was immediately done at 950 K for 5 h and the desired three-dimensional ceramic structure was obtained. The calculated band diagram for this structure indicated the existence of an absolute photonic bandgap for all wave vectors. At 14.7-18.5 GHz, a complete band gap was located with a maximum attenuation of 30 dB at 17 GHz, when transmission was measured in the 〈100〉 direction between 10 and 20 GHz.

Thermal debinding dynamics of novel binder system

The thermal debinding dynamics of newly developed binders for cemented carbides extrusion molding was studied. It is shown that the thermal debinding processes can be divided into two stages: low temperature region, in which the low molecular mass components (LMMCs) are removed; and high temperature region, in which the polymer components are removed. The rate of thermal debinding is controlled by diffusion mechanism. The thermal debinding activation energies were solved out by differential method and integral method. The results show that the addition of other components acted as a catalyzer can effectively decrease the activation energy of thermal debinding processes.

Binder composition and debinding process in PIM of AlN

The thermal degradation behaviors of AlN green specimens were studied by thermogravimetry analysis during the ceramic powder injection molding debinding process. The optimum binder composition and the debinding cycle were demonstrated by observing the TGA and DTA plots of AlN green specimens and analyzing the microstructure at different temperatures. By adding HDPE into the PW EVA binder used in powder injection molding AlN can effectively reduce the mass lose rate in debinding process and improve the shape retention ability. At last, aluminum nitride ceramic with high room temperature thermal conductivity of 162.5?W·m -1 ·K -1 was produced. [