How to Determine the MIM Material?

Before determine metal injection molding (MIM) materials, you need to carefully analyze the design and application of the part, including the dimension tolerance, part design and mold design.

The manufacturer of metal injection molding (MIM)  parts and the client must agree with the final performance requirements of finished parts, such as static and dynamic load, wear resistance, machinability and corrosion resistance,etc.

Apart from the austenitic stainless steel, the MIM materials can be subjected to heat treatment to get higher strength, hardness and wear resistance. The MIM ferrous parts that consist 0.3% or more combined carbon can be quench hardened and tempered. The percentage of carbon, alloy elements and remaining pore results in the degree of hardness under the given condition. Hardness can be increased to 55 HRC or higher through quenching.

In order to get the best strength and wear resistance, it needs tempering or eliminates stress after quenching, and the tempering temperature is a important factor that determines the final hardness.

The MIM ferrous parts that finally doesn’t contain carbon or carbon content is low can be carburizing-quenched, to improve the surface hardness and keep the toughness of the core. Martensite and precipitation hardening stainless steel also can be heated to improve the hardness and strong.

Sints recommends vacuum processing on heat treatment and (or) carburizing for MIM iron base parts. In order to guarantee certain carbon content, heat treatment process must be controlled closely. Most MIM material is adapted to the conventional heat treatment of forging rolling materials. For the ideal balance of the final performance, the heat treatment process should be determined jointly by manufacturer and clients.