Abstract
Facing with the Mega Competition Age, P/M industry in Japan has recognized that collaboration among firms and academics, particularly in the basic and scientific fields, may be the most effective procedure for increasing P/M industry competitiveness. In this paper, assessment of P/M R&D priorities, which was conducted by " JSPM Automotive Sintered Parts Committee " estab-lished in 1995, is reported. 50 participants, including academics, end users, part suppliers, powder producers, replied to an R&D priority questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 12 questions concerning fatigue, compaction, dimensional accuracy, densification, powder improvement, standardization of test methods and joining technique. Fundamental study on P/M Fatigue and Computer Simulation for powder compaction were given top R&D priorities.
