News of the first titanium jaw made specific to a patient’s bone structure made a big impression on both the nontechnical and technical press. But how important is this development, and what does it mean for the future of additive manufacturing? Liz Nickels investigates...
17 May 2012
Members' Content
Last year’s double-digit growth is expected to continue in metal powders, with manufacturers reporting high demand driven largely by North American markets, says Anita Shaw…
09 May 2012
Members' Content
What downturn? The metal injection moulding (MIM) industry is flourishing, with high demand for jobs, products and materials. Look for growth to come largely from developing markets, says Anita Shaw…
27 March 2012
Members' Content
Say lubricants to most people in the PM industry and the first things they think of are the additives that ease green parts out of the press. But take a step back and look at the complex machinery that makes up the press. What are its lubrication needs? Phil Burge from SKF offers some compelling evidence to encourage users to look more closely at lubrication regimes...
28 February 2012
Members' Content
Joseph Capus looks in on a session on binders taking place at the PowderMet 2011 conference in San Francisco and reports on what’s new in the field of binder lubricants in PM processing.
21 February 2012
Members' Content
Ken Brookes dissects the current state of the tungsten and tungsten carbide industries in China.
07 February 2012
Using powder metal technology to produce large titanium parts has long been a major goal for the PM industry. But while small, expensive, parts have been produced, large, affordable, titanium PM parts have hitherto been consigned to the realms of wishful thinking. Now Massachusetts-based Dynamet Technology is claiming an advance that could see PM titanium products being used to substitute for wrought titanium airframe components on commercial aircraft. The company expects its work to significantly increase the volume of PM titanium product and provide a major breakthrough at the intersection of the titanium, aerospace and powder metal industries.
31 January 2012
Trial and error sometimes produces answers for an experienced MIM operator faced with a problem in the mould. But modelling is increasingly being called into play to cut costs and save time before production starts. The author of this piece, Marco Thornagel from Sigma Engineering, explains how a mathematical model can fit in with the realities of production…
05 October 2010
The low weight, high performance characteristics of ceramic components means that ceramic injection moulding is an expanding business. A seven-country European research project has shown that technology can boost desirable traits in this powder technology…
05 October 2010
The hazards of combustible dust encompass a wide range of materials, industries, and processes – including metal powders. Any combustible material can burn rapidly when in a finely divided form. Now the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration has given notice that it intends to develop a standard that will comprehensively address the fire and explosion hazards of combustible dust…
05 October 2010
With news that Höganäs has launched a new, light weight motor for electric bicycles, Metal Powder Report looks at the growth of the ‘e-bike’ market in China and the rest of the world and how the motor was designed to meet new requirements for lightweight, environmentally-friendly vehicle components.
05 October 2010
There is tangible evidence that the pains of the global recession are subsiding and that an economic recovery – albeit a tepid one – is well under way. But not everyone is feeling the rebound to the same degree. Reginald Tucker, editor, Metal Finishing magazine, recaps the highlights from PowderMet 2010 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where equipment manufacturers, parts makers, and powder suppliers alike convened to network, learn, and, of course, buy and sell.
01 October 2010
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