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Is MIM Right for Your Application?

According to a study by Business Communications Company, Inc., the global Metal Injection Molding (MIM) market – worth $382 million in 2004 – is expected to expand at an average annual growth rate of 8.4% to a healthy $571 million by 2009.

Increasingly the manufacturing process of choice for small metal parts, MIM's inherent design flexibility provides the same benefits and features of plastic and rubber molding, but produces a much stronger end product. In fact, many MIM parts have densities and mechanical properties that approach and sometimes exceed those of forged or machined components.

Manufacturers have found MIM to be an especially apt choice for fabricating engineered components that require high volume, complex geometry, high performance and low cost. Major market segments in which MIM is widely employed include:

  • Automotive, including parts for steering and fuel injection
  • Consumer goods, such as power and manual hand tools
  • Electronics, including cell phone parts and computer hardware
  • Firearms, especially triggers, sights and locks
  • Medical, which includes endoscopic, orthodontic and surgical instruments

As with any fabrication process, a new part must have an optimized design to be economically viable. With MIM, this requires an understanding of the basic process, including its advantages and constraints.

What Is It?

MIM is a hybrid process combining the material flexibility attributes of powder metallurgy and the shape-making capability of plastic injection molding. The MIM process is most effective when customers focus on form, fit, and function rather than arbitrary standard tolerances of a print designed for another method of manufacture.

Today's components are generally less than 0.220 pounds (100 grams) in weight – smaller than a golf ball – and have a wall thickness no greater than 0.25" (10 mm). The smallest applications can be less than 0.3 grams. New binder systems and lower raw material pricing will allow for larger sized parts in the future while micro-molding will allow for smaller parts.

Standard materials for MIM include iron, alloy steel, stainless steel and titanium alloys, which exhibit near full-density characteristics after sintering. As with conventional powder metallurgy, elemental powders can be blended together to create unique alloy-material properties. The result produces complex metal components at high volumes and lower long-term costs than other manufacturing methods.

Your Project

One way to begin evaluating if MIM is right for your project is to answer the following questions:

  • Are you looking for significant cost savings for your project?
  • Do you need dual manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. and Europe?
  • Do you want a MIM process with high "Statistical Capability?"
  • Are you looking for a detailed and certified quality system manufacturer? (ISO 9001, QS 9000, TS 16949)
  • Do you want demonstrated superior 316 Stainless Steel physical and chemical properties?
  • Are you searching for a manufacturer with mastery process and knowledge of the MIM process?

As MIM commercial usage continues to increase, MIM applications will become more common and technically sophisticated. To encourage this expansion, we will provide a series of articles on the ever-changing capabilities of MIM.

The next newsletter will provide information on how MIM is manufactured, as well as additional tips for you use to evaluate if MIM is right for your project. If you are evaluating MIM for your project, contact our experts 303-833-6000 or visit www.pcc-aft.com.
 

 

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