Staying Up to Speed with Sintering Parts and Additive Manufacturing for Heat Treat

October 26, 2022 / FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, SINTERING POWDER/METAL TECHNICAL CONTENT

The powder metal industry continues to develop to keep up with production and industry needs. What exactly goes on with powdered metals and additive manufacturing? What is the sintering process? What should heat treaters know about the future of this industry?

In this original content article, three different resources -- an article, a radio broadcast, and a Heat Treat TV episode -- come together to answer these questions and much more.

"Heat Treating, Additive Manufacturing, and Serialization."

Ron Beltz
Director of Strategic Accounts
Bluestreak | Bright AM™

In this article, investigate the processes used to treat the metal powders. Sintering is one such process and others, like annealing and hot isostatic pressing, are examined too. Ron Beltz, director of strategic accounts at Bluestreak | Bright AM’s™ takes a look at these processes and also discusses other elements like software use and serialization. "One of the issues of additive manufacturing is the possibility of internal defects," Beltz explains. "Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) regularly produces near 100% dense parts, but to provide another level of control to help reduce part failure, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), instead of heat treating, is successfully being used by many aerospace companies and in the casting industry."

Harb Nayar
TAT Technologies
(photo source: tat-tech.com)

Heat Treat Radio #36: "A Discussion with Harb Nayar, Sintering Guru."

Hear from Harb Nayar, president and CEO, TAT Technologies; as he peers into the future of the industry; "The other [change in industry] I think that’s going to emerge is most probably making more and more parts by powder metallurgy from metal powder which are 100% free alloyed." Nayar is confident that the powder metal industry will keep growing, and this interview gives good insights from his depth of knowledge.

Heat Treat TV episode: "Press-and-Sinter Powder Metallurgy."

John Engquist, FAPMI (past president of the Center for Powder Metallurgy Technology), gives some practical basics on what powder metallurgy (PM) is and how sintering helps produce automotive components. "Let's take a look at some PM applications: here we have a notch and pocket plate that are used in one way clutches. . . .made from sinter hardened steel and iron carbon steel. Here we have an automotive planetary carrier system. . . .Here we see stator cores for electric motors . . . ." Listen in on ways to use powdered metal.

These thought-provoking pieces give an opportunity dig a little deeper into sintering and additive manufacturing. Stay on top of education and developments within the powder metal industry.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com

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Heat Treat TV: Press-and-Sinter Powder Metallurgy

Today’s story is an industry update coinciding with an excellent video resource describing conventional press and sintering with PM. Heat Treat TV seeks to provide helpful content on the latest trends in the industry and keep you current with what is happening between overlapping technologies. Read on to see how this great video relates to current trends.

If you have a video you’d like included on Heat Treat TV, please send an email to editor@HeatTreatToday.com and include a link to the video.

There has been a lot of talk in the industry about how sintering and powder metallurgy (PM) have been making headway in the world of heat treat. From how to use 3D printed green parts to understanding the step-by-step protocols of vacuum sintering, innovative heat treaters are envisioning new horizons at their fingertips, literally, by using the myriad of tools and skills at their disposal.

One of the most prominent figures, who is on the cutting edge of sintering, PM, and 3D printing in the North American market, is Harb Nayar, president and founder of TAT Technologies LLC. He spoke about some of the changes in these overlapping applications of 3D printing, sintering, PM, and additive manufacturing (AM). “Now, that ‘most probability low alloy steel,’ with even a lower amount of alloying, is going to be more conducive to faster quenching. In powder metallurgy – gas quenching is already used after sintering: they call it sinter hardening. In my opinion, heat treat will have to somehow modify its practices to deal with if the same forged product is really made from micro ingots as opposed to a macro ingot.”

This video highlights the questions of “what” and “how” of conventional press-and-sinter powder metallurgy. The creators of this excellent presentation are the Metal Powder Industries Federation’s Industry Development Board and John Engquist, FAPMI (past president of the Center for Powder Metallurgy Technology). Giving the very basics, they share that PM is just metal powder, molded by high pressure in a closed die, and that molded 3D green compacts are then sintered to produce parts in the various industries which service the automotive, recreation, agricultural, hydraulics, and other markets. Watch the video to see how this process breaks down, and what factors to consider (like size) when planning your PM use.

Additionally, this video is now available as the introduction video to Heat Treat Today’s Sintering & Powder Metallurgy page where even more new and technological articles and videos are available.

john engquist