Sintering

Mechanical sintered part production comes from metallic powder compaction followed by heat treatment. This technology begins with powder mixing of the required material (iron, steel, copper, aluminium and their alloys, magnetic materials, etc…). Then, the powder mix is pressed within customized die tools in order to impart the component final geometry. Subsequently, the parts made of pressed powder have to undergo the actual sintering treatment. Such treatment is carried out in an inert atmosphere between 1120 °C and 1350 °C for a variable amount of time, followed by slow cooling or fast cooling in forced atmosphere (sinter-hardening). Sintering allows to pressed powder granules to bond with each other on the atomic scale so that components can develop the required mechanical properties. After sintering, parts can be finished or may require deburring processes, machining operations by chip removal, heat treatments or different surface treatments.