Abstract
We developed the mass production process of 2%Ni-Fe pre-alloyed powder by high-pressure water atomization. When the 2%Ni-Fe pre-alloyed powder was sintered, the sintering characteristics were equal to that of pre-mixed powder of the carbonyl iron and carbonyl nickel, which are conventionally used in powder metallurgy industry. The sintering speed increased as the particle size became finer, so the higher sintering density was obtained even if the sintering temperature was the same. Environmental/sanitary problems and chemical segregation problem, which are inherent in using pre-mixed carbonyl powders, will be solved by adopting the pre-alloyed powder for the production of MIM parts. As a result, it can be expected that the MIM market will be much more expanded.
