Micropatterns of W-Cu composites fabricated by metal powder injection molding

Abstract

The metal powder injection molding (MIM) process has been applied to fabricate micropatterns of W-Cu composites. A 150 μm × 150 μm × 300 μm column array patterned lost plastic mold was used as the mold insert. Several parameters were examined to overcome limitations of lost plastic molding such as low plastic strength, unvented blind hole structure and parting line. Molding temperature was a more dominant factor than molding pressure for the complete filling of feedstock into the micro patterns. The intrinsic defects originating from the lost plastic mold could be eliminated by the re-injection molding of the disc-shaped green part in a vacuum. The final micropatterns of W-Cu composite were fabricated by sintering at 1100 o C and 1300 o C for 1 h.

Experimental investigations on the synthesis of W–Cu nanocomposite through spark plasma sintering

“…However, this method always produces defects like pores, copper lakes, and tungsten agglomerates which eventually results in a poor quality [15]. Other methods to fabricate W-Cu composites include thermo-mechanical process [1], metal powder injection molding [9], hot extrusion [16], liquid sintering and hot-hydrostatic extrusion [17], microwave sintering [18], resistance sintering [19], vacuum plasma spray [20,21], mechanical alloying, and other methods [22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Correlation of Microstructure with Hardness, Wear Resistance, and Corrosion Resistance of Powder-Injection-Molded Specimens of Fe-Alloy Powders

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The PIM is composed of several processes, in which fine powders are mixed with binders, the mixed powders are injected into a mold, binders are removed from the injection-molded body, and only powders are sintered at high temperatures. Recently, intensive studies on the PIM have been conducted because of its designing freedom.…”

Fabrication of Micro-Patterned Surface for Pool-boiling Enhancement by Using Powder Injection Molding Process

“…The micro-patterns were fabricated using a powder injection molding (PIM) process, because complex-shaped structures can be easily fabricated with low production costs by using the PIM process [23]. The PIM process facilitates the mass-production of the micro-patterns with low production costs, and it is the most useful advantage compared with other common fabrication methods [24]. The micro-patterned surface was fabricated with material and a structure suitable for pool-boiling heat transfer.…”

“…Various researchers have also studied powder injection molded (PIMed) micro-patterns [24,26,27,28,29,30]. All of the PIMed micro-patterns were fabricated by using a sacrificial mold with a reversed shape of the pattern.…”

“…All of the PIMed micro-patterns were fabricated by using a sacrificial mold with a reversed shape of the pattern. Silicon [26,28] or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) [24,29,30] were used for the sacrificial mold. The reversed shape of the micro-pattern was fabricated by using deep reactive ion etching for silicon, or X-ray lithography for PMMA.…”