Powder metallurgy(PM)

Powder metallurgy is a metal forming process performed by heating compacted metal powders to just below their melting points. The process has existed for more than 100 years, over the past quarter century it has become widely recognized as a superior way of producing high-quality parts for a variety of important applications. This process has several advantages over other metal forming technologies such as forging and metal casting, advantages in material utilization, shape complexity, near-net-shape dimensional control, among others.

Technologies

There are several technologies fabrication such as:

• The conventional PM process
• Metal injection molding (MIM) process
• Hot isostatic pressing (HIP)

Using many of these PM processing techniques, as well as other processes such as spray forming, roll compaction, rapid solidification, and others, components are also produced today from particulate materials other than metal powders. Today's advanced materials are seldom made of metals and metallic alloys alone, often incorporating ceramics, ceramic fibers, and intermetallic compounds. These include:

• cermets
• intermetallic compounds
• metal matrix composites
• nanostructured materials
• high-speed steels