• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.223-224
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• 2006

In this paper, rheological characteristics of Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) feedstock using locally binder of palm stearin are presented. The feedstock consisted of 316L-grade stainless steel powder with three different particle sizes and the binders comprise palm stearin and polyethylene. The viscosity of MIM feedstock at different temperatures and shear rates was measured and evaluated. Results showed that, the feedstock containing palm stearin exhibited suitable rheological properties and suitable to produce a homogeneous feedstock that is favorable for injection molding process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.221-222
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• 2006

This paper describes a Plasma Assisted Debinding and Sintering (PADS) equipment, which has been designed to process Metal Injection Molded (MIM) components. The use of a hybrid system combining a glow discharge with a conventional heating system makes debinding and sintering of MIM components, in the same heating cycle, a feasible industrial process. Characteristics as density, carbon content and mechanical properties are similar to traditionally processed MIM materials. The reduction of energy and gas consumption and shorter lead-times are economic advantages of PADS system. The clean environment of PADS is also an ecological advantage.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.251-256
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of sintering condition on the microstructure evolution and tensile properties of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy sample processed by metal injection molding (MIM) in terms of the sizes of the alpha morphology and pore found in the matrix. For this purpose, a series of MIM were conducted on this sample at various sintering temperatures ranging from 1173 to 1373 K for three hours followed by furnace cooling, observed by the scanning electron microscopy. The microstructures sintered in this study showed that, with increasing sintering temperature over beta transus temperature, the transformation of the equiaxed alpha into transformed beta was attained while the size of pores would tend to decrease. Thus, the strength remained unchanged significantly in the tension while ductility increased to some extent as sintering temperature increased. Such mechanical behavior would be explained in relation to the microstructure evolution of the Ti-6Al-4V sample via the MIM.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2002

The production of micro components is one of the leading technologies in the fields of information and communiation, medical and biotechnology, and micro sensor and micro actuator system. Microfabrication (micromachining) techniques such as X-ray lithography, electroforming, micromolding and excimer laser ablation are used for the production of micro components out of silicon, polymer and a limited number of pure metals or binary alloys. However, since the first development of microfabrication technologies there have been demands for the cost-effective replication in large scale series as well as the extended range of available material. One such promising process is micro powder injection molding (PIM), which inherits the advantages of the conventional PIM technology, such as low production cost, shape complexity, applicability to many materials, applicability to many materials, and good tolerance. This paper reports on a fundamental investigation of the application of W-Cu powder to micro metal injection molding (MIM), especially in view of achieving a good filling and a safe removal of a micro mold conducted in the experiment. It is absolutely legitimate and meaningful, at the present state of the technique, to continue developing the micro MIM towards production processes for micro components.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2010

Metal Injection Molding (MIM) is attractive because it produces consistent, complex-geometry components for high-volume, high-strength, and high-performance applications. Also MIM using in optical communication field, display field, and semi-conductor field is a cost-effective alternative to metal machining or investment casting parts. It offers tremendous single-step parts consolidation potential and design flexibility. The objective of this paper is to study the suitability of design, flow analysis, debinding and sinterin processes, and capability analysis. The suitable injection conditions were 0.5~1.5 second filling time, 11.0~12.5 MPa injection pressure derived from flow analysis. The gravity of the product is measured after debinding an sintering. The maximum and minimum gravity levels are 7.5939 and 7.5097. the average and standard deviation are 7.5579 and 0.0122; when converted into density, the figure stands at 98.154%. According to an analysis of overall capacity, PPM total, which refers to defect per million opportunities(DPMO), stands at 166,066.3 Z.Bench-the sum of defect rates exceeding the actual lowest and highest limits-is 0.97, which translates into the good quality rate of around 88.4% and the sigma level of 2.47.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.39-40
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• 2006

The relationship between the powder particle size change and a mechanical property of the Metal Injection Molding (MIM) product was examined in detail. The XRD results indicate that the diffraction peaks of BCC appeared in compacts of powder particle size of 4 to $10{\mu}m$ as well as the bulk SUS630. However, the diffraction peaks from both BCC and FCC were observed in the compact with powder size less than $3{\mu}m$. TEM observation revealed that the powder with those BCC/FCC two phase structure have a finely dispersed $SiO_2$ precipitates. Because the Si is ferrite stabilizing element, decrease of Si composition in the matrix phase by the $SiO_2$ precipitation resulted in formation of the retained austenite. Therefore, controlling the elements such as Si as well as oxygen decrease is very important to obtain a normal microstructure in ultra-fine powder $(<3{\mu}m)$ injection molding.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.37-40
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• 2014

A discharge electrode plays a role of shaving off workpiece with spark generated by current in discharge machining. Accordingly, for the discharge electrode, an electrode with excellent wear resistance is necessary. Generally, Graphite and Cu are used as the materials of the electrode, and recently Cu-W is mainly used as an electrode with excellent wear resistance. However, the form of the electrode generally used is produced mostly using cutting work, so a lot of costs incur if several similar forms are needed. Thus, this study developed a Cu-W electrode using Metal Injection Molding (MIM) process to produce similar forms with excellent productivity and a great quantity of electrodes in a similar form in discharge machining and carried out a discharge machining test. In developing an electrode applying MIM, predicting contraction of a product in a sintering process, a mold expansion ratio of 1.29486 was given, but the actual product showed a percentage of contraction 24% to 32%, which showed a difference of 3% to 5%. In addition, to verify wear resistance of the discharge electrode, abrasion loss was measured after the discharge.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.160-168
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• 2018

Among the components of rotary hooks, a core component of an embroidery sewing system, a study was conducted to apply metal injection molding to the manufacture of a hook body and a housing that was very difficult to mechanical working. The correlation of feedstock, a mixture of binder and SCM 415 metal powder, and properties of the pressure-volume-temperature interrelationship, viscosity, specific heat, and thermal conductivity were measured. Injection molds for the hook body and the housing were developed through injection molding analysis using these properties and conducted injection tests. Optimal injection gate position and number, injection pressure, and injection time were obtained through a comparison of analysis results with the experiment results.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.243-254
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• 2024

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have been reported to have better properties than conventional materials; however, they are more expensive due to the high cost of their main components. Therefore, research is needed to reduce manufacturing costs. In this study, CoCrFeMnNi HEAs were prepared using metal injection molding (MIM), which is a powder metallurgy process that involves less material waste than machining process. Although the MIM-processed samples were in the face-centered cubic (FCC) phase, porosity remained after sintering at 1200℃, 1250℃, and 1275℃. In this study, the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process, which considers both temperature (1150℃) and pressure (150 MPa), was adopted to improve the quality of the MIM samples. Although the hardness of the HIP-treated samples decreased slightly and the Mn composition was significantly reduced, the process effectively eliminated many pores that remained after the 1275℃ MIM process. The HIP process can improve the quality of the alloy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09b
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• pp.767-768
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• 2006

In this study, copper vapor chambers with built-in cooling fins, which eliminated the soldered or brazed joints in the conventional vapor chamber, were fabricated using the metal injection molding process. The results show that with optimized molding parameters, fins with an aspect ratio up to 18 could be produced. After sintering, the densities of the fin and chamber reached 96%. With only 32 cooling fins and a small fan installed, the thermal resistance of the heat sink was $1.156^{\circ}C/W$, and the power dissipation was 40W when the junction temperature was $70^{\circ}C$. When copper powder was sintered onto the chamber to make a vapor chamber, the thermal resistance decreased to $1.046^{\circ}C/W$.