Sintering
From powder to finished product
Sustainable raw material
Our ambition is to join the ongoing ecological transition. To do this, the first step was obviously the search for sustainable raw materials to work with. It has been identified in Swedish partners, a nation that has always been a forerunner of sustainability: the first green steel mill in the world will be operational as early as 2024, anticipating by several years the goal of “zero emissions” set by the EU for 2050. Thanks to the use of green hydrogen and electrifying every stage of the process with renewable energy, in their steel production the carbon footprint drops to 95% and the only emission is water vapour.
Powder atomization
It is an industrial process of metal transformation that allows to obtain very fine powders, whose individual grains have a diameter ranging from 10 to 100 microns. The starting material is solid metal. It is placed inside a crucible, where it is melted.
At this point, the cast metal is “bombarded” by jets of very high pressure water which pulverize it.
Custom powders
Identified in AISI316 the material par excellence for products intended for our customers, we have studied with our Swedish partners a mixture dedicated to us in order to obtain greater
surface quality, durability and corrosion resistance.
Pressing
This is an essential phase of the process. In this phase, in fact, the components take shape.
The result is an element that already has the geometry and density of the final element, but not yet the mechanical properties.
The powders are placed in high-strength steel matrixes and here they are compressed by means of the latest generation mechanical, hydraulic and electric presses, unilaterally or bilaterally, with forces up to 800 MPa.
At first, the powder thickens and is evenly distributed in the die, resulting in a reduction in volume.
Subsequently, the powder grains undergo a mechanical shock which determines their plastic deformation, until they reach the specific density of the base material.
The internally designed dies and punches require very high geometric and dimensional precision. The clearances between dies and punches are often less than one hundredth of a mm in order to guarantee the containment of the correct quantity of powder and the precision of the piece itself.
Our current production capacity is based on over 40 presses and more to come, up to 4500kN.
Sintering
The heating of the pressed pieces, under a controlled atmosphere, generates the welding between powder granules. The higher the sintering temperature, the faster the diffusion phenomena occur which lead to welding and the formation of alloys.
Our sintering furnaces are also equipped for the sintero- hardening process and the correct production of stainless steels, with temperatures that can reach 1350
°C.
Advantages
High speed
High production speed in large series
High precision
High dimensional precision, guaranteed centesimal tolerances
Absence of blowholes
Absence of blowholes and shrinkage in the sintering phase, due to the absence of polymer binders
High quality
High surface quality of the finished product without further processing
Absence of waste
Absence of processing waste, by obtaining the final geometry
High efficiency
High economic efficiency
DO YOU NEED TO MASS-PRODUCE A CUSTOMIZED METAL COMPONENT?
We offer you the feasibility study and the identification of the most suitable production process, ensuring very high quality of materials and excellent quality/price ratio.