Steering machinery parts Powder metallurgy

Powder Metallurgy is a continually and rapidly evolving technology embracing most metallic and alloy materials, and a wide variety of shapes. PM is a highly developed method of manufacturing reliable ferrous and non ferrous parts. The European Market alone has an annual turnover of over Six Billion Euros , with annual worldwide metal powder production exceeding one million tonnes.

Created by mixing elemental or alloy powders and compacting the mixture in a die, the resultant shapes are then heated or "sintered" in a controlled atmosphere furnace to bond the particles metallurgically. The high precision forming capability of PM generates components with near net shape, intricate features and good dimensional precision pieces are often finished without the need of machining.

By producing parts with a homogeneous structure the PM process enables manufacturers to make products that are more consistent and predictable in their behaviour across a wide range of applications. In addition the PM Process has a high degree of flexibility allowing the tailoring of the physical characteristics of a product to suit your specific property and performance requirements. These include:

Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes can avoid, or greatly reduce, the need to use metal removal processes, thereby drastically reducing yield losses in manufacture and often resulting in lower costs.

Powder metallurgy is also used to make unique materials impossible to melt or form in other ways. A very important product of this type is tungsten carbide (WC). WC is used to cut and form other metals and is made from WC particles bonded with cobalt. It is very widely used in industry for tools of many types and globally ~50,000t/yr is made by PM. Other products include sintered filters, porous oil-impregnated bearings, electrical contacts and diamond tools.