金属粉末を原料としたマイクロチャンネルデバイス

抄録

I propose a simple and economical method for producing free-form microchannels in metal bodies. The concept for my process is based on a microscopic infiltration phenomenon that often occurs during liquid phase sintering of a mixture of metal powders with different melting points. A shaped compound of the metal powder with lower melting point and an organic binder are used as the sacrificial core that gives the shape of the microchannel. A body-metal powder compact that includes the sacrificial core is sintered at a temperature between the melting points of the sacrificial-core metal and body metal. The organic binder is removed during heating of the powder compact, and infiltration of molten sacrificial-core metal into the body-metal powder produces a microchannel and a lining layer. I examined following combinations of metal powders: titanium-aluminum, nickelaluminum, copper-tin, and iron-copper. Metallographic observations confirmed that microchannels were produced in the metallic bodies in all these systems. Furthermore, in the case of the titanium body metal with an Al-Cu alloy sacrificial-core metal, the inner wall of the microchannel was smoother than the case of titanium with aluminum. Content of alloying element such as copper or silicon in an aluminum alloy sacrificial-core metal influenced the composition and structure of the microchannel lining. This new insight indicates the potentiality of this microchanneling process for producing functional microchannel lining.