Characterization of the molding methods and the binder system in the MIM process

Abstract Recently, the MIM process has become the important production process, although, this process has many problems in the mixing step, the molding step, the debinding step, and the sintering step, and still much research is required. The authors have explored the whole MIM process using two kinds of binder and different molding methods. As the binder, PAN-31 and PAN-250 which are produced at ADEKA Fine Chemical Co. are used. PAN-31 has good characteristics for debinding, although, it has a problem in molding. PAN-250 has the opposite characteristics compared to PAN-31. Also, the molding methods are characterized in this research, and it has been found that the feedstock is molded to the specimen homogeneously by injection molding.