The Influence of Powder Size on Mechanical Properties of Small MIM Parts

The relationship between the powder particle size change and a mechanical property of the Metal Injection Molding (MIM) product was examined in detail. The XRD results indicate that the diffraction peaks of BCC appeared in compacts of powder particle size of 4 to $10{\mu}m$ as well as the bulk SUS630. However, the diffraction peaks from both BCC and FCC were observed in the compact with powder size less than $3{\mu}m$. TEM observation revealed that the powder with those BCC/FCC two phase structure have a finely dispersed $SiO_2$ precipitates. Because the Si is ferrite stabilizing element, decrease of Si composition in the matrix phase by the $SiO_2$ precipitation resulted in formation of the retained austenite. Therefore, controlling the elements such as Si as well as oxygen decrease is very important to obtain a normal microstructure in ultra-fine powder $(<3{\mu}m)$ injection molding.