Abstract
Powder injection moulding (PIM) is a rapidly growing technology for producing complex geometry, net shaped components from ceramics, metals, hard metals, and intermetallics. The shaping of ceramic powders using injection moulding has a highly creative aspect with regard to the complexity of the structural parts. This permits the most near-net shaping possible. Therefore, costly finishing of the sintered components can be reduced to a minimum or totally eliminated. This potential for ceramic injection moulding (CIM) has led in the recent past to intensified international research and development activities. A number of new binder systems have been developed, i.e., polyacetate based, PEG-polymer based, acrylic-polymer based, agarose-based, etc. The development in the area of new binder composition was in parallel assisted by a significant improvement in debinding processes. New debinding systems have been developed, i.e., computer assisted thermal debinding, extraction debinding, catalytic debinding, or even freeze drying or microwave assisted drying, which significantly shortened the debinding time from days to hours and lowered the emission of undesirable volatile organic by-products to a minimum. The formation of defects during the debinding process was also practically eliminated.
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Nitherlands Enegy Research Foundation ECN. Published in Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, Nos. 3–4(406), pp. 16–23, March–April, 1999.
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Rak, Z.S. New trends in powder injection moulding. Powder Metall Met Ceram 38, 126–132 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02676037
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02676037