The June 2019 issue of Powder Injection Moulding International (Vol. 13 No. 2) has been released and is now available to read for free online or download in pdf format. This issue features 50 pages of industry news, plus the following articles and technical reviews:

Low-Pressure Powder Injection Moulding: Enabling cost-effective low and high-volume production

The vast majority of metal and ceramic injection moulded parts are today produced on high-pressure injection moulding machines, operating at up to 200 MPa. However, Low-Pressure Powder Injection Moulding (LPIM), using pressures of up to 1 MPa, has been a focus of international development for a number of years.

LPIM is now enjoying commercial success, driven partly by its ability to produce components at both low and high volumes, many of which are larger than can be produced by conventional PIM. Prof Vincent Demers outlines the current status of the technology and highlights the key technical differences between LPIM and conventional PIM.

The globalisation of the Powder Injection Moulding industry evident at Hannover Messe 2019

For many decades, Hannover Messe has been, and still is, the world’s leading industrial exhibition. From April 1–5, 2019, more than 215,000 visitors viewed the exhibits of 6,500 companies from all over the world.

Dr Georg Schlieper visited the show on behalf of PIM International and talked to the representatives of a number of PIM related exhibitors on their booths. These interviews give some interesting insight into the current state of the industry.

Lithoz: How Lithography-based Ceramic AM is expanding the opportunities for technical ceramics

The impact of Additive Manufacturing is today being felt far beyond the metal and plastics industry. This is particularly true in the world of technical ceramics, where processes such as Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing are opening up markets for new applications but also supporting technologies such as Ceramic Injection Moulding through the delivery of functional prototypes.

In the following report, Isabel Potestio, from Austria’s Lithoz GmbH, reviews the process, its parallels with CIM, and the opportunities that it presents for the ceramics industry.

Xerion’s Fusion Factory:

A complete production cell for prototype and one-off ‘PIM-like’ parts

When it comes to using Additive Manufacturing to develop functional prototypes of MIM and CIM parts, Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is rapidly becoming a fast and cost-effective solution. Now, furnace specialist Xerion Berlin Laboratories GmbH, Berlin, Germany, has developed a complete system for the FFF of prototype and one-off metal and ceramic components.

As Dr Uwe Lohse and colleagues explain, this modular system, which includes an FFF printer, solvent debinding unit and high-temperature furnace, offers PIM producers a technologically sophisticated solution to a long-standing sticking point for the industry.

Dry ice cleaning in Powder Injection Moulding: Theory, process and application

The cleaning of moulds is an essential task in a Powder Injection Moulding facility. The process can, however, be time consuming and risks damage or wear to critical surfaces and components.

In the following article, Steve Wilson, Cold Jet LLC, Loveland, Ohio, USA, presents the advantages of using dry ice for mould cleaning. In addition to a reduced risk of wear or damage, environmental and economic and productivity-related benefits are outlined.

Read the free digital edition online or download in pdf format today.