Holding pressure and its influence on quality in PIM technology

Abstract

The PIM (powder injection molding) process consists of several steps in which faults can occur. The quality of the part that is produced usually cannot be seen until the end of the process. It is therefore necessary to find a way to discover the fault earlier in the process. The cause of defects is very often "phase separation" (inhomogeneity in powder distribution), which can also be influenced by the holding pressure. This paper evaluates the powder distribution with a new method based on density measurement. Measurements were made using various holding pressure values.