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What is Powder Metallurgy?

 

Powder metallurgy (PM) is a value-added engineering process for forming metal parts by heating compacted metal powders to just below their melting points. The heat treatment is called "sintering."

Although the process has existed for more than 100 years, over the past quarter century it has become widely recognized as a superior way of producing high-quality parts.

 

What does the powder metallurgy process offer over other metal-forming technologies?

The powder metallurgy process offers:
  • Material utilization
  • Shape complexity
  • Near-net-shape dimensional control
  • and more!

Powder metallurgy comprises several different consolidation processes for fabricating semi-dense and fully dense components.

They are:

  • Conventional powder metallurgy process, referred to as press-and-sinter
  • Metal injection molding (MIM)
  • Hot isostatic pressing (HIP)
  • Powder forging
  • Metal additive manufacturing (AM), also known as metal 3D printing

Additional metal powder processes include spray forming, roll compaction, and rapid solidification.

Particulate materials can be processed in a few different ways, including:

  • Intermetallic compounds
  • Metal matrix composites
  • Nanostructured materials
  • High-speed steel
  • and more!

 

Powder Metallurgy Touches Your Life

Using many of these PM processing techniques, as well as other processes such as spray forming, roll compaction, rapid solidification, and others, components are also produced today from particulate materials other than metal powders.

These include:

  • Cermets
  • Intermetallic compounds
  • Metal matrix composites
  • Nanostructured materials
  • High-speed steel
  • and more!

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