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Understanding Our Industry - Introduction to PIM Powder Injection Moulding Technology
PIM (Powder Injection Molding) technology combines powder metallurgy and plastic injection moulding process, Metal /Ceramic Injection Molding (Metal /Ceramic Injection Molding) is a modern plastic injection moulding technology introduced into the field of powder metallurgy, a collection of plastics forming technology, polymer chemistry, powder metallurgy process and metal materials science and other disciplines into a new type of ‘near-net-shape’ technology. It is a new type of ‘near-net forming’ technology for parts and components that combines plastics forming technology, polymer chemistry, powder metallurgy and metal materials science and other disciplines. Provides a very high degree of freedom of design and material properties, is to achieve complex parts of the mass production of important processes. The basic process steps of powder injection moulding technology are: firstly, select metal and ceramic powder and binder that meet the requirements of PIM, then mix the powder and binder into a uniform feedstock at a certain temperature by using an appropriate method, and then form a billet by injection moulding, and then form a billet after degreasing and sintering to make the metal powder denser, and then form a finished product.
Metal parts with complex shapes, as well as various types of ceramic parts, can be manufactured cost-effectively and efficiently by means of a technique similar to plastic injection moulding. This method offers significant advantages in design flexibility over many conventional production processes. The process uses a mould to inject and form a blank, which is rapidly processed by sintering technology to produce high-precision, high-density and three-dimensionally complex parts. It enables the precise translation of design concepts into finished products with specific functional and structural characteristics, while being suitable for mass production.
PIM technology combines the technical advantages of plastic injection moulding and powder metallurgy, which not only has the characteristics of short process, no or small amount of cutting, and high economy in the traditional powder metallurgy process, but also overcomes the problems of uneven material, low mechanical properties, and difficulty in processing thin-walled structures and complex shapes. From the perspective of the industry chain, the upstream industry of metal injection moulding mainly provides raw materials, including metal powder and binder. These raw materials are mixed to generate feedstock, which becomes the direct raw material for MIM products. At present, the downstream application of PIM technology mainly focuses on the consumer electronics industry. With the continuous improvement of the process technology, its application scope is gradually expanding to automotive manufacturing, medical devices, hardware tools and other fields.
As an emerging ‘near-net-shape’ technology, the PIM process is growing rapidly in the international powder metallurgy field, and is considered to be one of the most promising component forming technologies today.
Introduction to CIM and MIM processes
In the powder injection moulding process, the key processes include mould design, injection moulding, degreasing, sintering and post-processing. These processes need to be highly synergistic to ensure a high quality final PIM product, with a long production process and many process steps. The common processes to be implemented include mould design, mould making, feeder making, injection moulding, degreasing, sintering, and according to the customer's customised product requirements, post-processing using shaping, machining, and surface treatments, such as CNC, radium engraving, sandblasting, polishing, electrophoresis, PVD, DLC, and so on. The following are the core contents of each stage:
Mould design: Consider the shrinkage rate and complex structure of the product to ensure the precise control of the final size. Customers should design the mould design to counter-compensate for product sintering shrinkage and pay attention to runner (cold/hot) design during the moulding process, cold material well design, and Kincera can provide more suggestions regarding the design of multi-cavity design and the design of the relationship between product size.
The unique advantages of MIM technology have led to its wide application in a number of industries, including consumer electronics, automotive, medical devices, etc., with unlimited future market potential. In recent years, the global MIM market has been growing steadily, driven by a number of fields such as electronics, automotive, medical, hardware, and machinery. According to MaximizeMarketResearch data, the global MIM market size was USD 2.46 billion in 2016, the market size increased to USD 2.87 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach USD 5.26 billion in 2026, corresponding to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.87% from 2019-2026. In the future, driven by the rapid growth of electronic products and the substitution of MIM manufacturing parts for traditional process manufacturing parts and other factors, the global MIM market will still maintain positive development. From the global regional distribution, China MIM market accounts for about 40% of the global market, is the world's largest market; North America and Europe MIM market accounts for 17% of the global market, is also an important global market.
Advantages of choosing PIM technology
The advantage of PIM injection moulding technology lies in high precision and high efficiency, traditional metal processing technology such as cold heading, forging, stamping is suitable for processing two-dimensional, simple parts structure products, for three-dimensional, complex shape product processing, there are certain difficulties.CNC technology does not need to design and produce moulds, the degree of freedom and machining precision is quite high, but the material waste is serious, and in the processing of ultra-small parts, three-dimensional shape of complex parts, time-consuming, low yield and high cost. CNC technology does not require mould design and production, and has high freedom and machining precision, but material waste is serious, and in the processing of ultra-small parts, three-dimensional shape of complex parts, time-consuming, low yield and high cost. In contrast, MIM technology near net forming, almost no waste, can be used for mass production of three-dimensional shape, complex structure, precision size of the metal products, high degree of freedom of design, which is MIM technology and other metal processing technology compared to the advantages of the MIM process by virtue of its own high degree of freedom of design, wide adaptability of the material, the ability of mass production and other characteristics, the industry is known as the ‘hottest parts forming’ today. ‘The MIM process has been widely used in consumer electronics, automotive manufacturing, medical devices, power tools, and other fields due to its high design freedom, wide material adaptability, and high mass production capability.
