Powder Metallurgy - Continuous Powder Processing

Continuous Powder Processing

The phrase "continuous process" should be used only to describe modes of manufacturing which could be extended indefinitely in time. Normally, however, the term refers to processes whose products are much longer in one physical dimension than in the other two. Compression, rolling, and extrusion are the most common examples.

In a simple compression process, powder flows from a bin onto a two-walled channel and is repeatedly compressed vertically by a horizontally stationary punch. After stripping the compress from the conveyor the compact is introduced into a sintering furnace. An even easier approach is to spray powder onto a moving belt and sinter it without compression. Good methods for stripping cold-pressed materials from moving belts are hard to find. One alternative that avoids the belt-stripping difficulty altogether is the manufacture of metal sheets using opposed hydraulic rams, although weakness lines across the sheet may arise during successive press operations.

Powders can also be rolled to produce sheets. The powdered metal is fed into a two-high rolling mill and is compacted into strip at up to 100 feet per minute. The strip is then sintered and subjected to another rolling and sintering. Rolling is commonly used to produce sheet metal for electrical and electronic components as well as coins. Considerable work also has been done on rolling multiple layers of different materials simultaneously into sheets.

Extrusion processes are of two general types. In one type, the powder is mixed with a binder or plasticizer at room temperature; in the other, the powder is extruded at elevated temperatures without fortification. Extrusions with binders are used extensively in the preparation of tungsten-carbide composites. Tubes, complex sections, and spiral drill shapes are manufactured in extended lengths and diameters varying from 0.5–300 mm. Hard metal wires of 0.1 mm diameter have been drawn from powder stock. At the opposite extreme, large extrusions on a tonnage basis may be feasible.

There appears to be no limitation to the variety of metals and alloys that can be extruded, provided the temperatures and pressures involved are within the capabilities of die materials. Extrusion lengths may range from 3–30 m and diameters from 0.2–1 m. Modern presses are largely automatic and operate at high speeds (on the order of m/s).