Effects of material improvement and injection moulding tool design on the movability of sintered two-component micro parts

Two-component micro powder injection moulding (2C-MicroPIM) broadens the scope of possible microsystem applications since it facilitates the integration of two different materials and, hence, also two different functions in one micro assembly. As shown recently, not only two-component micro parts with fixed junctions can be produced, but, in principle, also parts with movable connections. This paper describes the difficulties associated with the realisation of shaft-to-collar connections with a movable junction. As an approach the gating concept of the injection moulding tool was changed. With the modified injection moulding tool, movable connections were obtained after sintering the micro parts to a maximum temperature of 1,450°C. Thus, the production of sintered movable connections does no longer require additional steps.