It’s been a busy year for the European Hard Metals Group. At an unprecedented second meeting in 12 months, held at EuroPM 2009 in Copenhagen, the group has decided to alter the frequency of its review sessions. Ken Brookes reports... 19 January 2010
Truck maker Scania can now satisfy the EU’s new exhaust directive in a different way to competitors thanks to SEM’s skills and Höganäs’ SMC powder... 19 January 2010
Producing metallic hollow spheres is complicated. Up to now it has not been possible to make the small sizes required for new high-tech applications. However, for the first time researchers at one of Germany’s premier research institutes have manufactured ground hollow metal spheres measuring between just two to 10 millimetres. 19 January 2010
Plenty of rhetoric was in the mix in the review of PM in North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific that was delivered in June at the Washington World Congress. Rob Stringer reports on three very different outlooks on the industry… 21 November 2009
Most manufacturing processes generate scrap, and even though powder metallurgy is notable for its low scrap production, these days scrap is a valuable commodity. A Tennessee companylooked for economic ways to recycle hardmetal scrap and found a machine that filled the bill, says Bob Seeley… 21 November 2009
knowledge spreads in the ‘flat world’ of global markets, so the leaders have to raise their game to maintain their competitive position. That is as true in powder pressing as anywhere else. The clever modern-generation presses that are the result work more efficiently, but are also much more adaptable to rapidly changing industrial needs. PM press designers learned from experience gained with hardmetals… 21 November 2009
Iron deficiency anaemia is one of the world's leading health problems causing personal illness and serious socio-economic consequences. A major iron powder producer has taken a lead in producing an iron food fortification supplement… 21 November 2009
Bigger loads of heavy powders for tungsten blends call for machinery to match… 21 November 2009
Given the competitive nature of business, especially when times are tough, product differentiation is often the real message behind the anodyne phrases that describe ‘customer choice’… 27 October 2009
The hardmetal sector is arguably the most profitable in powder metallurgy. The tooling made from its products are expensive but, as Ken Brookes discovered, there have been leaps in productivity and sophistication… 27 October 2009
Almost like waiting for a bus, when one trade show comes into view in October, there's another one almost directly behind it. First up this month is EuroPM2009, the established European annual PM fest, this year being staged in Copenhagen from 12 – 14 October. But following close behind comes Ceramitec (20 – 23 October) in Munich. 27 October 2009
The low-cost approach to combating the volatile pricing of steel alloy elements means real skill is needed in making sure powder metallurgy continues to meet the exacting standards of component manufacturers, says Joe Capus… 27 October 2009
It has been a little while coming, but this year the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) has chosen arguably the coolest, most cosmopolitan, and most exciting city in Scandinavia to stage its annual conference and exhibition, EuroPM 2009. 27 October 2009
And with one bound, Jack was free… Such was the good fortune of the comic-book hero of childhood when faced with insuperable odds. To find a parallel in the grown-up and grimmer world of engineering reality, you probably only have to look as far as the lightning Chapter 11 bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler. Both have been achieved at a price. 27 October 2009
The vexed topic of animal testing and the European REACH environmental legislation has surfaced again with sharp exchanges of views and new questions over costs. 01 October 2009
Could a small UK metal extraction company hold the secret to transforming titanium powder production – making it as low cost and high production as iron or aluminium? Metal Powder Report visited Metalysis’ headquarters in Rotherham, UK, to discover the story behind the commercial scaling up of the FFC Process. 18 September 2009
Direct metal laser-sintering (DMLS) technology may sound like something out of science fiction. But as its manufacturers and users report, it’s gaining ground among customers as a way to produce complex parts quickly and accurately. Some developments have clear economic advantages, says Liz Nickels... 18 September 2009
Why do hardmetals have such high status in professional circles in Europe, whilst in North America cemented carbides are the metaphorical poor relation? It's an important question for Metal Powder Report, which circulates in both areas. 28 August 2009
The beaming children assaulting their teeth with sweets, just minutes away on Florida's Disneyland resort, may one day appreciate the work discussed at the Royal Plaza hotel. Rob Stringer reports on a conference with a dental and medical flavour… 21 August 2009
This paper details the use of electro discharge sintering (EDS) to sinter diamond containing segments to high density and strength from standard iron powders using a split mould with insulating sides and conductive punches. Additional segments were made from iron powder and diamond manufactured in strip form and cut to shape … 21 August 2009
The Winterev hard materials gathering is getting bigger and Ken Brookes mourns a slight loss of informality that is one immediate result… 21 August 2009
The credit crunch, plummeting car sales, and stagnant end-use markets have combined to create a significant slowdown in powder metallurgy. Contributing editor Lauren Moraski speaks with industry members about how their firms are weathering the global economic crisis … 21 August 2009
Any process will have a chance in the market if it is efficient in comparison to alternative processes. Lutz Lackner from Dorst Technologies looks at how manufacturers using powder compaction to make pressed parts can be helped to reduce costs while increasing the efficiency of the forming process… 21 August 2009
As the credit squeeze threatens many small companies in the PM supply chain, some are looking to pastures new, and hi-tech pastures at that, for inspiration, new business directions and profitability… 18 August 2009
The countries of the former Eastern Bloc are using PM technologies developed during the Soviet era but combining and sharpening them by the use of imported new technologies… 18 August 2009
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