Warm flow compaction fosters more complex PM parts

The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany, has developed a variant of powder metallurgical (PM) forming that combines features of powder pressing, warm compaction and metal injection moulding (MIM). Dubbed `warm flow compaction' (WFC), the process allows the formation of more complex geometries than conventional PM, such as wide undercuts, cross holes and threaded bores. The WFC process uses an adjustment of powder packing density and lubricant content to increase the formability of powdered materials.