FLOWSHEET OF POWDER

METALLURGY
 Methods of Powder Production

Methods of
Powder
Production

Mechanical Chemical Physical-

Mechanical Electro-chemical
methods methods methods methods
 Chopping or
Cutting Miller Cutter

Abrasion
methods Filer

Machining
Mechanical Methods methods Machining

Milling
Ball Mill

Cold-stream
Process Cold Stream
 Reduction of oxides

Precipitation from solutions

Chemical Methods
Thermal decomposition of
compounds

Hydride decomposition
 Water
Atomization

Gas Atomization

Vacuum
Atomization
Physical-Mechanical
Methods Centrifugal
Atomization

Rotating disk
Atomization

Ultrasonic
Atomization
 (a) & (b) Gas Atomization techniques

(c) Water Atomization (d) Centrifugal Atomization

Water Atomization
• Uses high pressure water jets to dis-integrate the molten metal
stream.
• Water is used due to their higher viscosity and superior quenching
ability.
• The process is inexpensive and can be used both for small and large
scale production.
• Used mostly for unreactive materials such as steels, it produces
irregular shaped powder particles.

Gas Atomization
• Molten metal stream is disintegrated by means of high velocity gas.
• Gases used are Argon , Nitrogen, Hydrogen gas gets.
• Fluidized bed cooling is used to get special characteristics of powder
like spherical shape or no oxide content.
• Costlier than Water Atomization.
• Used to produce super alloys .(such as : complex nickel and cobalt
materials , titanium alloys etc..)
Vacuum Atomization
• Molten metal supersaturated with gas under pressure is suddenly
exposed to vacuum
• Outcoming gas of metal solution expands rapidly causing
atomization of metal stream.
• High purity powders are obtained by this method.
• Metal is saturated with H2 gas.

Centrifugal Atomization (REP)

• Centrifugal force is used to break off molten metal drops from
molten end of consumable electrode.
• One end of the metal bar is heated and melted by bringing it into
contact with non-consumable tungsten electrode, while rotating it
longitudinally at high speeds.
• Metal droplets thrown off outwards solidify as spherical shaped
particles inside an evacuated chamber.
• Used for reactive metals like Titanium.
COMPACTION OF METAL POWDERS:
CONDITIONING
Significance
• In most cases a manufactured powder is not just usable for powder
metallurgy applications.
• It must be processed based on size, purity, lubrication etc. by
thermal, chemical or mechanical treatments.

Methods of Conditioning
• Sorting according to particle size
• Increasing purity or hardening elimination by annealing
• Addition of a lubricant (sliding agent) and a binding material
• Mixing of various fractions
• Mixing of various materials
• granulation
Reasons for Blending

• Before the powders are pressed into shape,

they are usually blended for the following
reasons:
▪ To add lubricants to reduce friction during
the pressing operation.
▪ To mix powders of different materials.
▪ To obtain uniform distribution of particle
size.
▪ To add volatilizing agents to give a desired
amount of porosity.
Additions and admixtures

• Various additional pressing additives (plastificators, lubricants

etc.) are used to reduce friction between pressing tool walls
and between individual particles to improve the
compressibility.
• They also reduce wear of pressing dies and their “sticking”.
• Zinc or lithium octadecanoate is generally used in an amount
ranging between 0.2 to 1 wt%.
• Lubricants have to be removed before sintering not to prevent
formation and growth of metallic bonds.
• Sintering additives or binders: metal additives added to initial
mixtures to improve the sintering process. They are usually
partly or completely dissolved during sintering, thus sintering
occurs in the presence of a liquid phase.
• Fillers: are other additional agents which are mixed to metal
powder in a specified amount. They evaporate during sintering,
thus a demanded porosity degree occurs in a final product.
Compacting

• After blending and mixing, the next step is that of

compacting or pressing the powders into their semi-finished
from preparatory to sintering.
• The purpose of compacting is to consolidate the powder into
the desired shape and as closely as possible to final
dimensions.

Die Pressing

• There are mechanical, servo-electrical and hydraulic presses.

• In modern aggregates, the entire pressing process is
software-controlled (die filling, pressing, ejection of compact,
etc.)
• In principle, two types of presses are used: Mechanical
Presses and Hydraulic Presses
Hydraulic Presses
• Above a pressing force of
1000kN.
• Pressing force is well-
controllable
• Pressing speed is low
• 10-15 strokes per minute
Hydraulic Press

Mechanical Presses

• Up to a pressing force of
1000kN.
• High number of compacts per
unit time.
• Number of strokes ranges
between 20-100 per minute
Mechanical Press
 Isostatic Pressing
Process

• At isostatic pressing the powder is encased in a sheath on which

pressure transferred by gas, rubber, plastic material or liquid is
applied.
• Generally isostatic pressing are of two types: Hot isostatic
pressing, Cold isostatic pressing.

Advantages
• Uniform strength in all directions: The pressure used to compact
the powder is applied equally in all directions.
• Uniform density: The resulting compacted piece will have uniform
shrinkage during sintering or hot isostatic pressing with little or
no warpage.
• Shape flexibility: Isostatic pressing makes it practical to produce
shapes and dimensions that are difficult or impossible to produce
by other methods.
 Cold Isostatic Pressing (CIP)
Design
• This isostatic pressing procedure is carried out in a steel pressure
vessel.
• Metal powder is placed in a flexible rubber mold typically made
of neoprene rubber, urethane, polyvinyl chloride, or another
elastomer.
• The assembly then is pressurized hydrostatically in a chamber,
usually using water.
• After closing, the required pressure ranging from 200MPa (for
ceramics and graphite) up to 400 MPA for metal powders is
developed.

Types
• Wet bag process
• Dry bag process
 Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP)
Design and Uses

• HIP makes use of a combination of elevated temperature

and isostatic pressing by gas.
• The container is generally made of high-melting-point steel,
and the pressurizing medium is high-temperature inert gas
or vitreous (glasslike fluid).
• Common pressure is 100 MPa, (although it can be three
times as high) and at a temperature of 1200 o C.
• HIP produces compacts having almost 100% density, good
metallurgical bonding of the particles and good mechanical
properties. Known for making high quality parts.
• HIP is used mainly in making super alloy components for
the aircraft and aerospace industries and in military,
medical, and chemical applications.
• It is used to close porosity; and as a final densification step
for tungsten carbide cutting tool and P/M tool steels.
Schematic illustration of hot isostatic pressing. The pressure and temperature
variation versus time are shown in the diagram.
 Continuous Compaction
Features

• Applied to simple shapes

(rod, sheet, tube, plate etc.)
• Flowing loose powder
between a set of vertically
oriented rolls at much lower
speed.
• Powder is fed to the roll gap
in 2-high rolling mill, and is
compacted into a continuous
strip at speeds of up to
0.05m/s.
• Rolling process carried out at
room or at elevated
temperature.
SINTERING OF METAL POWDER
Definition

• Heating of compacted aggregate of metal powder below the

melting temperature with or without the application of
external pressure to transform it to a dense material by inter
particle bonding.
• Decrease in free energy due to decrease in surface area.
• 0.7 to 0.9 melting temperature of the major constituent.

Stages during Sintering

1. Adhesion without shrinkage.

2. Densification and gain growth stage.
3. Final stage with closed pores or elimination of the last
isolated rounded pores.
Sintering Mechanism

•There are two types of sintering mechanisms:

1. Adhesion Mechanism: Elementary bonding
process, No material transport, Major
contributor in initial stage of sintering
2. Material Transport Mechanism:
[Link] and recrystallization .
[Link] or viscous flow.
[Link] and consideration.
[Link] diffusion.
[Link] diffusion.
[Link] boundary diffusion mechanism.
 Pre Sintering
Characteristics
• P/M parts will be hard after sintering
process, hence machining will be difficult.
• In this, Compact is heated for a short time at
a temperature below sintering temperature.
• Pre sintering removes lubricants and
powders.
• After pre sintering, the part acquires
sufficient strength to be handled and
machined without difficulty
 Furnaces used for Sintering
Classification

I. Based on the types of heating, such as fuel-fired or

electrically-heated, there are two types of fuel-fired
furnaces: the direct-fired muffle furnace and the radiant
tube-fired.
II. Horizontally and vertically fired radiant tube furnaces allow
low maintenance operations up to 1000oC using nickel-
chromium alloy tubes and up to 1100oC with super-alloy or
ceramic coated tubes.
III. Electrically heated furnaces provide constant temperatures
by means of proportional current controllers and the
furnaces make use of nickel-chromium (1150oC), silicon
carbide (1150oC), graphite (2000oC) and molybdenum
(1850oC) as heating elements depending on the
temperature range.
Continuous type sintering furnace
Figure- Batch type furnace .
 Liquid Phase Sintering
Characteristics
• Sintering is done in presence of liquid phase.
• Composition of the starting material is such
that it generates small amount of liquid phase
on heating.
• This liquid should be able to dissolve a small
amount of the solid phase and thereby wet
the surface, there will be liquid-solid as well
as liquid-vapour surfaces.
• Wettability of the liquid and Capillary forces
of a liquid has a very important role to play.
Flowsheets of production of P/M

Porous Bearing

Sintered Friction
Materials

Sintered Carbides
Flowsheets of production of P/M
(contd.)

Magnetic Materials

Cermets

Dispersion
Strengthened Materials
 Porous Bearing

Production of Cu
Mixing of
powder, Tin Compaction
Elemental
powder, Graphite (150-230 MPA)
powder
powder

Sintering
Oil Impregnation Sizing (approx. 800°C;
5-10 min)

Bearing
 Porous bearing / Self lubricating bearing
• Porous bearings are based on powder-metallurgy technology. They
are economical, suitable for high production rates, and can be
manufactured to precision tolerances.

• Porous bearing is a kind of bearing with the advantage of self-

lubrication, its characteristic is that oil squezes out from the hole in
the operation and lubricates on the friction surface, and once the
operation stops, the oil is sucked into the hole again, so a small
amount of oil can be used for long time lubrication.

• In addition, it does not glue with heat and is inexpensive, so it is now

widely used in audio, home appliances, automotive electrical
equipment, etc.
• The material of porous bearing is roughly divided into four kinds:
copper, paste, copper-iron, and aluminum. The affinity of copper
is good, the mechanical strength of iron is high, and copper and
iron have a specialty of intermediate nature between the two.
Aluminum is light in weight and has good heat transfer.
• Most porous-metal bearings consist of either bronze or iron
which has interconnecting pores. These voids take up 10% to 35%
of the total volume.
• In operation, lubricating oil is stored in these voids and feeds
through the interconnected pores to the bearing surface.
• Any oil which is forced from the loaded zone of the bearing is
reabsorbed by capillary action. Since these bearings can operate
for long periods without an additional supply of lubricant, they
can be used in inaccessible or inconvenient places where
relubrication would be difficult
• POROUS metal bearings are produced by partial compaction of metal
powders in precision tools of the desired shape followed by the
sintering of the powder compact in a reducing atmosphere at a
temperature of about 80% of the absolute melting point of the metal.

• The sintered compact is repressed to restore dimensional accuracy, to

produce a high surface finish and, by work hardening, to increase the
elasticity.

• The amount of porosity depends mainly upon the degree of

compaction of the powder, and does not change greatly during the
subsequent sintering and repressing operations, whereas the size of the
pores depends upon the particle size of the powder and the subsequent
processing. Finally the porosity is impregnated with lubricating oil.
• Main features of porous bearings.
• Advantages: 1. Adapt to mass production
2. Elimination of cutting process, saving cost
3. Compared with rolling bearings, the sound is smaller
4. Self-lubricating effect, no heat gluing
5. No need or only need a small amount of oil supply

• Disadvantages: 1. Not suitable for multi-species small batch production

2. Mechanical strength (compressive strength) is weak because of hollow
holes inside the bearing
3 load capacity is small, most of the mixed lubrication or critical lubrication
state, and therefore compared with the sliding bearing, the coefficient of
friction is relatively large

• Many Variations Are Possible To Meet Specific Requirements.

• From 1% to 3.5% graphite is frequently added to enhance self-lubricating
properties. High porosity with a maximum amount of lubricating oil is used
for high-speed light-load applications, such as fractional-horsepower motor
bearings. A low-oil-content low-porosity material with a high graphite
content is more satisfactory for oscillating and reciprocating motions where
it is hard to build up an oil film.
 Multi layered sintering
• In order to address poor lubrication of porous bearings due to the
seepage flow of oil into the porous medium, multi-layered sintered
composite bearings have been developed.
• Multi-layered bearings achieve a combination of high strength and
good lubrication.
• Results show that the lubrication performance of the multi-layer
materials is better than that of the single layer materials.
• With the decrease of the surface porosity, the lubrication
performance becomes better in the given range of surface layer.
 Porous Bearing Material Characteristic
• Bronze: The most common porous bearing material. It contains 90% copper and 10% tin. These
bearings are wear-resistant, ductile, conformable, and corrosion-resistant. Their lubricity,
embeddability, and low cost give them a wide range of applications from home appliances to farm
machinery.

• Leaded Bronzes: Have a 20% reduction of the tin content of the usual 90-10 bronze and a 4%
reduction in copper. Lead content is 14% to 16% of the total composition and results in a lower
coefficient of friction and good resistance to galling in case the lubricant supply is interrupted. These
alloys also have higher conformability than 90-10 bronzes.

• Copper-Iron: The inclusion of iron in the composition boosts compressive strength although the speed
limit drops accordingly. These materials are useful in applications involving shock and heavy loads and
should be used with hardened shafts.

• Hardenable Copper-Iron: The addition of 1-1/2% free carbon to copper-iron materials allows them to
be heat treated to a particle hardness of Rockwell C65. They provide high impact resistance and should
be used with hardened-and-ground shafts.

• Iron: Combine low cost with good bearing qualities, widely used in automotive applications, toys, farm
equipment, and machine tools. Powdered iron is frequently blended with up to 10% copper for
improved strength. These materials have a relatively low limiting value of PV (on the V side) but have
high oil-volume capacity because of high porosity. They have good resistance to wear but should be
used with hardened-and-ground steel shafts.

• Leaded-Iron: Provide improved speed capability, but are still low-cost bearing materials.

• Aluminum: In some applications, they provide cooler operation, greater tolerance for misalignment,
lower weight, and longer oil life than porous bronze or iron. The limiting PV value is 50,000, the same
as for porous bronze and porous iron.”
 Sintered friction materials

Selection of raw
Powder
materials based Powder Mixing
Compaction
on design

Pressure Processing of
Sintered Friction
Sintering of back plate
Material
brake pads frame
 Friction materials
• The powder metallurgical friction materials are based on a
sintered metal matrix, into which mineral, metallic, non-metallic
or ceramic agents, as well as abrasives and solid lubricants are
embedded. The formulation of the composite friction materials
and the percentage of the metallic matrix determine significantly
the good thermal conductivity and higher resistance to heat.
Sintered friction linings are suited to operate in thermal highly
loaded applications (e.g. clutches and brakes in drive technology,
in machine industry and in heavy duty commercial vehicles
including tractors, agriculture and construction machinery) for
wet and dry running systems.
• During sintering processes powder mixtures are heated (sintered)
to temperatures below the melting point and under controlled
protective atmosphere. Thereby gases escape which leads to the
typical open porosity of sintered friction materials. Even thinner
sinter linings with high porous texture can be achieved by the
sprinkling process, so as a result very porous friction layers
support the cooling fluid and oil circulation
Benefits of Sintered Friction Material
• Stable Under Various Conditions
• When using heavy machinery, it’s crucial to have a brake pad that’s stable under various temperatures.
Braking materials that are unreliable under temperature changes can be dangerous.
• For outdoor applications such as locomotives or wind turbines, it’s even more critical to have brakes
that work in wet or dry conditions.
• Handle High-Heat
• The metallic properties of sintered friction materials allow it to withstand a much higher temperature
than organic options.
• Large pieces of machinery generate more heat when slowing down than smaller ones, which is why it’s
essential to have materials that can handle the heat generated by friction.
• No Warm-Up Time
• Some types of brakes require some time to warm up before they start producing results. When you’re
in a situation where you need to stop something large quickly, there’s no time for brakes to warm up.
• This is the third significant benefit to sintered friction materials. They don’t require any time to warm
up so you can expect them to act as soon as you need them to, making them safer and more effective.
• Ready to Place an Order?
• Now you know what sintered friction material is and how it’s used in a variety of industrial and other
applications.
• If your business needs a high-quality brake material that can withstand high temperatures, contact us
today. We would love to provide you with a quote and help you get what you need to keep your
business moving forward.
 Sintered carbides

Raw Cold Pressing

Milling
Materials & Shaping

Sintered Vacuum
Machining
Carbides Sintering
 Cemented carbide
• Cemented carbides are a class of hard materials used extensively
for cutting tools, as well as in other industrial applications. It consists of
fine particles of carbide cemented into a composite by a binder metal.
• Cemented carbides commonly use tungsten carbide (WC), titanium
carbide (TiC), or tantalum carbide (TaC) as the aggregate. Mentions of
"carbide" or "tungsten carbide" in industrial contexts usually refer to these
cemented composites.
• Most of the time, carbide cutters will leave a better surface finish on a part
and allow for faster machining than high-speed steel or other tool steels.
• Carbide tools can withstand higher temperatures at the cutter-workpiece
interface than standard high-speed steel tools (which is a principal reason
enabling the faster machining).
• Carbide is usually superior for the cutting of tough materials such as carbon
steel or stainless steel, as well as in situations where other cutting tools
would wear away faster, such as high-quantity production runs. In
situations where carbide tooling is not required, high-speed steel is
preferred for its lower cost.
 Cermets

Powders Milling

Drying of
Compacting
Milled mix

Sintering
 CERMETS
• A fundamental definition of the word ‘cermet’ is, “a
composite that contains at least one ceramic and one
metallic phase”
• Although the idea of a cermet is to produce a composite
material with ceramic as the matrix and metals as the binder
phase.
• The main idea of a cermet is to produce material by
combining ceramic and metal materials to achieve properties
that are superior to those of ceramics and metals when used
independently.
• From this perspective, tungsten carbide (WC)-based, and
cobalt (Co)-bonded cemented carbides or hard metals fall
within the cermet category. The word ‘cermet’ has been
applied historically to titanium carbide (TiC)-based hard
metals.
 CERMETS
• Cermet is an advanced class of material consisting of a hard
ceramic phase along with a metallic binding phase with the
combined advantages of both the ceramic and the metal
phase.
• The superior properties of this class of materials are
particularly useful in high-temperature, and machining
applications
• The most commonly used cermet systems based on tungsten
carbide (WC), titanium carbide (TiC), titanium carbonitride
(TiCN), and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) are discussed based on
their development, properties, and applications.
• The most common processing techniques for cermet systems,
such as powder metallurgy (PM), reaction synthesis (RS),
thermal spray (TS), cold spray (CS), and laser-based additive
manufacturing techniques are discussed..
 Cermets
• Among cutting tool specialists, the term ‘cermet’ is applied exclusively to tool materials based on titanium
carbonitride (TiCN) with nickel (Ni) or cobalt (Co) as binders with possible carbide additives
• According to this definition, the meaning of the word ‘ceramic’ within the term cermet includes everything that
has a high melting point or is refractory.
• Hence, cermets are a combination of high melting point material, along with a metal component to provide
suitable ductility and heat conductivity to the material, making them insensitive to heat shock.
• A cermet (ceramic metal) is a structural material consisting of a hard ceramic phase, which constitutes
approximately 15–85% of the material by volume, and a metal-binding phase
• a wide range of composite materials fall under this category. It is appropriate to consider a cermet to be a
ceramic-metal composite in which the dominant part is the ceramic phase including carbides, nitrides, oxides,
and carbonitrides of titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), and vanadium
(V).
• The usual metallic binders for cermet systems include Ni, Co, and Mo.
• a ceramic phase is added as a reinforcement to a metallic or ceramic base material, whereas in cermets, in
most cases, the metallic phase functions as a binder to improve the toughness alongside ceramic-like
properties.
• These materials are generally refractory, hard, and chemically resistant .
• Ceramic materials, in general, possess high-temperature resistance and hardness, while metals can deform
plastically. Therefore, a cermet design aims to achieve the combined optimum properties of both ceramics and
metals.
• Because of these combined properties, cermet materials are used in various applications, including machining
and cutting tools, extrusion dies, wear-resistant coatings, high-temperature applications, etc.
 Dispersion Strengthened
Particles

Milling with
additives/ Cold
Mechanical Sintering
Blending/Controlled Compaction
Powder Oxidation

Secondary Primary
Processing Fabrication
 Magnetic Materials

Preparing the
Pressing (70-
powdered
100 MPA)
metal

Annealing Sintering

Finishing Magnetizing
• Magnetic Components
• Economic and technical advantages have also been found in the
production of components for magnetic applications.
• Small permanent magnets of the Alnico, Cunife or Cunico types can
be pressed and sintered to final shape and size, showing equivalent
magnetic properties but finer grain structures and better mechanical
strengths than similar cast materials.
• Soft magnetic sintered products in iron, silicon-iron and iron with
about 5% of phosphorus are widely used in the manufacture of pole
pieces and armatures for dc application.
• The use of sintered high-permeability laminated components in
nickel-iron and permalloy-type materials for transformer applications
is increasing, and with the direct rolling of powders into thin strips,
further applications will undoubtedly follow.
• Applications
• a. Cores for self-inductance
• Probably one of the most important uses of metal powders for magnetic purposes is
• the production of cores for self-inductance coils in high-frequency communication equipment.
• The cores are produced by compressing insulated metal powders.
• Sintering in the accepted sense is not required, although a thermal stabilisation
• or stress-relieving treatment is usually carried out to obtain optimum magnetic
• characteristics.
• Purity and close control of compositional limits is very necessary, and electrolytic
• or carbonyl powders and pre-alloyed permalloy-type powder are widely used
• as raw material.
• b. Ferrites
• Another class of magnetic materials which are processed by powder metallurgy methods are the ferrites
or magnetic oxides. The combination of ferric oxide with bivalent oxides of magnesium, nickel,
manganese, copper, zinc, etc, produces materials having a wide range of both soft and permanent
magnetic properties.
• The 'soft ferrite' has found the widest application in the manufacture of cores for radio and television and
other applications such as ABS sensor rings,computer printers and armatures. Increased miniaturisation
of personal hi-fi and telecommunication equipment has seen a surge in production of sintered rare earth-
cobalt magnets in recent years, as well as the introduction of Fe-Nd-B magnets.
• China is now the main source of all these products
 Design consideration for PM parts
The following recommendations should be kept in mind while
designing parts to be made by PM
• The shape of the part must permit ejection from the die.
• The shape of the part must not require the powder to flow into thin
walls, narrow passages, or sharp corners.
• The shape of the part should permit construction of strong and rigid
tooling.
• The shape of the part should make allowance for the length to
which thin – walled portion of the part can be compacted.
• The shape of the part should have the fewest possible change in
section.
• The special capabilities afforded by PM to produce certain part
forms, should be utilized.