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Sintering metal injection molding parts of tungsten-based steel using microwave and conventional heating methods

In recent years, the near net shape metal injection molding process combines desirable features of plastic injection molding and powder metallurgy processes to gain high strength-to-weight ratio for manufacturing complex-shaped parts. The metal injection molding process consists of mixing, molding, debinding, and sintering. Microwave processing has attracted much attention in global research because of its unique features such as its ability to heat and sinter a wide variety of metals and its significant advantages in energy efficiency, processing speed, and compatibility. Also, it presents few environmental risks and can produce refined microstructures. The injected samples to be sintered are composed of fine tool steel metal powder and binders, stearic acid, paraffin wax, low-density polyethylene, and polyethylene glycol (600). In recent years, microwave-assisted post-treatment is considered a novel method for processing green parts. In this work, the green parts are subjected to high-intensity microwave fields which operate at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. Metal injection molding compacts were sintered using multi-mode microwave radiation. The sintering of a metal injection molding compact by microwaves has hardly been reported. The metal injection molding compact showed better results than those produced by sintering with conventional heating. This study evaluates the effect of conventional sintering and microwave sintering on mechanical properties. By optimizing the sintering process, increased sintered hardness, a more homogeneous microstructure, and greater shrinkage were obtained using microwave-assisted sintering.