Piston-Based Material Extrusion of Ti-6Al-4V Feedstock for Complementary Use in Metal Injection Molding

Abstract

Piston-based material extrusion enables cost savings for metal injection molding users when it is utilized as a complementary shaping process for green parts in small batch sizes. This, however, requires the use of series feedstock and the production of sufficiently dense green parts in order to ensure metal injection molding-like material properties. In this paper, a methodological approach is presented to identify material-specific process parameters for an industrially used Ti-6Al-4V metal injection molding feedstock based on the extrusion force. It was found that for an optimum extrusion temperature of 95 °C and printing speed of 8 mm/s an extrusion force of 1300 N ensures high-density green parts without under-extrusion. The resulting sintered part properties exhibit values comparable to metal injection molding in terms of part density (max. 99.1%) and tensile properties (max. yield strength: 933 MPa, max. ultimate tensile strength: 1000 MPa, max. elongation at break: 18.5%) depending on the selected build orientation. Thus, a complementary use could be demonstrated in principle for the Ti-6Al-4V feedstock.

Development of a Three-Dimensional Optical Verification Technology without Environmental Pollution for Metal Components with Different Surface Properties

“…It is important to note that the proposed environmentally friendly 3D optical verification technology can be employed for plastic products made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or polycarbonate [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. In addition, the proposed environmentally friendly 3D optical verification technology can also be employed in the verification of feature sizes in the plastic injection mold [ 30 ], stamping die, blow molding mold [ 31 ], rotational molding mold, metal injection mold [ 32 , 33 ], or transfer molding mold [ 34 ]. In practical experience, three kinds of objects are difficult to scan.…”

Improvement of catheter tip morphology by mold material used for tip‐forming process

“…Silva properties of molds required when performing molding processes using special materials, such as carbon fiber, epoxy, biodegradable components, and titanium alloys, and use them to optimize the molding process. [12][13][14][15] However, very few studies have attempted a scientific approach to minimize flash, which is a major problem in the tip-forming process, which is essential for catheter manufacturing.…”

“…Silva et al and Kanbur et al conducted a study to improve molding performance by optimizing the cooling channel in the mold, 9,10 and Kuo et al conducted a study to analyze the molding characteristics by changing the cooling channel as well as the cooling process and consider the productivity in injection molding 11 . In addition, Kipping et al, Major‐Gabryś et al, Wang et al, and Waalkes et al performed research to analyze the material, heat transfer, and rheological properties of molds required when performing molding processes using special materials, such as carbon fiber, epoxy, biodegradable components, and titanium alloys, and use them to optimize the molding process 12–15 . However, very few studies have attempted a scientific approach to minimize flash, which is a major problem in the tip‐forming process, which is essential for catheter manufacturing.…”

Effects of Different Mold Materials and Coolant Media on the Cooling Performance of Epoxy-Based Injection Molds

“…Cost-effectiveness depends on the cooling time of the molded part greatly in the injection molding process. Metal additive manufacturing (MAM) [16] technology is applied to speed up manufacturing for the production of injection mold with CCC. However, the distinct disadvantage is expensive spending [17] and longtime taking [18] in the fabrication of injection mold with CCC.…”