Metal injection mold

Metal injection molding (MIM) is a metalworking process where finely-powdered metal is mixed with a measured amount of binder material to comprise a 'feedstock' capable of being handled by plastic processing equipment through a process known as injection moldforming.

The molding process allows complex parts to be shaped in a single operation and in high volume. End products are commonly component items used in various industries and applications.
The nature of MIM feedstock flow is defined by a physics calledrheology. Current equipment capability requires processing to stay limited to products that can be molded using typical volumes of 100 grams or less per "shot" into the mold.
Rheology does allow this "shot" to be distributed into multiple cavities, thus becoming cost-effective for small, intricate, high-volume products which would otherwise be quite expensive to produce by alternate or classic methods.
The variety of metals capable of implementation within MIM feedstock are referred to as powder metallurgy, and these contain the same alloying constituents found in industry standards for common and exotic metal applications.
Subsequent conditioning operations are performed on the molded shape, where the binder material is removed and the metal particles are coalesced into the desired state for the metal alloy.

Application

  • Aerospace
  • Automobile
  • Electronics
  • Military
  • Medical

newsletter h-metal 201307

Material


Category Material Feature Application
Stainless steel SUS 304L Corrosion resistant Key
SUS 316L Clock
SUS 440C Corrosion resistant
High hardness
Slide
SUS 630 Corrosion resistant
High strength
Shaft
Medical
Tool steel SKD 11 High strength Wear resistant part
Carbon steel Fe-Ni High strength
Low alloy
3C parts
Structural parts
Others Kovar Low heat coefficient Telecom parts