Analysis and evaluation of effects of processing steps on dimensional tolerance of PIM parts

The factors affecting the dimensional tolerance of powder injection molding (PIM), such as the selection of the powder and binder, the feedstock homogeneity, the feedstock thermal properties, the feedstock rheologic behavior, the debinding schedule and atmosphere and sintering temperature gradient were discussed. An attempt was made to develop a model to estimate the influence of important variables. The results show that a better understanding of these factors can provide some useful theoretical instructions for large scale production.