MIM Processing (Metal Injection Molding)
The Metal Injection Molding process combines the design flexibility of Plastic Injection Molding with the strength and integrity of wrought metals to offer cost-effective solutions for highly complex part geometries. The MIM process is typically explained as four unique processing steps to produce a final part:
• Compounding
• Molding
• De-binding
• Sintering
ECM vacuum furnace expertise takes place in the De-binding and Sintering steps of the process. In order to increase fatigue and impact resistance, a carburizing or hardening step can also be performed after the sintering step. ECM developed a furnace to perform all of these steps at the same time in one cycle. This allows for significant time, energy and financial savings.