Metal injection molding is suitable for stainless steel, iron-based alloy, magnetic materials, tungsten alloy, cemented carbide, fine ceramics and other series. The parts are widely used in aerospace industry, automobile industry, military industry, medical treatment, machinery industry, daily necessities and other fields. Here we are going over metal injection molding and other molding process characteristics of comparison, which is more advantageous.
The Working Process Of Metal Injection Molding
The solid powder is mixed with the organic binder evenly, then granulated and injected into the mold cavity for curing in the state of heating and plasticizing (～ 150 ℃). Then, the binder in the blank is removed by chemical or thermal decomposition, and finally the final product is obtained by sintering and densification. Compared with traditional technology, it has the characteristics of high precision, uniform organization, excellent performance and low production cost. Its products are widely used in electronic information engineering, biomedical equipment, office equipment, automobile, machinery, hardware, sports equipment, watch industry, weapons and aerospace industry. Therefore, it is generally believed that the development of this technology will lead to a revolution in parts forming and processing technology, which is known as "the most popular parts forming technology today" and "the forming technology of the 21st century"
1. Comparison with traditional powder metallurgy process
Metal injection molding (MIM), as a near net forming technology for manufacturing high quality precision parts, has incomparable advantages over conventional powder metallurgy methods. MIM can manufacture many parts with complex shape features, such as external grooving, external thread, conical external surface, cross through hole, blind hole, concave and key pin, stiffener plate, surface knurling and so on. The parts with the above features can not be obtained by conventional powder metallurgy methods.
2. Comparison with precision casting
For the metal or alloy with relatively low melting point, precision casting can also form three-dimensional complex shape parts. However, there is nothing we can do about refractory metals and alloys, cemented carbides, cermets and ceramics, which is determined by the essence of precision casting. In addition, it is very difficult or infeasible to use precision casting for parts with small size, thin wall and large quantity.
3. Comparison with machining
The traditional machining method, which relies on automation to improve its processing ability recently, has made great progress in efficiency and accuracy, but the basic procedure is still inseparable from the way of gradually machining (turning, planing, milling, grinding, drilling, polishing, etc.) to complete the shape of parts.
Finally, the machining accuracy of machining method is much better than other machining methods, but because the effective utilization of materials is low, and the completion of its shape is limited by equipment and tools, some parts can not be completed by machining. On the contrary, metal injection molding can effectively use the material, and the degree of freedom of shape is not limited.
For the manufacturing of small and difficult shape precision parts, metal injection molding process is more competitive than mechanical processing, which has low cost and high efficiency. MIM technology makes up for the shortcomings of traditional processing methods, and is not competitive with traditional processing methods. Metal injection molding technology can play its advantages in the field of parts that cannot be made by traditional processing methods.
