Metal injection moulding of novel stainless steel-space holder feedstock for production of stainless-steel foams.

Metal foams are advanced materials with unique and excellent properties. One promising method to produce metal foams is the metal injection moulding-powder space holder (MIM-PSH) method. In this study, experimental work has been performed to identify the feasibility and effect of a novel space holder, namely, glycine, on the MIM-PSH process. Materials used were water atomised stainless steel powder, glycine powder and the multi-component binder consisting of paraffin wax and polythene. Compression specimens were injection moulded, debound and sintered. The porosity, pore size distribution and microstructure characteristics of the samples were characterised. The results show that the glycine is a suitable space holder for the MIM-PSH process. Samples with the porosities in the range of 42.4% to 52.1% were successfully produced. The total porosities of the samples were directly proportional to the glycine content. Marcopores (100 µm) and micropores (1–10 µm) were observed in the samples. The microstructure and pore size of the samples are found to have a potential application in certain functional applications such as filters, fluid separation and biomedical implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]