Launching in Vienna at the PM 2004 World Congress is an appropriate start for the most significant joint project ever undertaken by the three major regional powder metallurgy trade associations. The European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA), the Japan Powder Metallurgy Association (JPMA) and the US-based Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) have worked hard to get global agreement on the Global Powder Metallurgy Database, which will become a major point of reference for the industry and its customers world wide.

The output from this milestone project will be an online database, the prime function of which will be as a source of information for use by designers in PM end user and potential end user companies worldwide. As such it will be of major long-term importance for all companies in powder metallurgy.

It was clear by the late 1990's that the PM industry was failing to maximise its market potential and technological advantages. Designers and engineers in many metal industry sectors were not aware of the potential physical, mechanical and fatigue properties of PM parts. There was an obvious need to address the situation and for the for this information to be brought together and made available in an easily useable format.

However, there were a number of significant difficulties to be faced in gathering and providing the data, not least of which were cost, confidentiality, verification and the use of differing measuring systems and methods in various parts of the world.

This meant further progress was limited until, following initial discussions between the EPMA, JPMAand the MPIF in June 2002 at the World Congress in Orlando, a technical working group was set up with the remit to jointly develop a programme with objectives, timescales and budget costs for the establishment of the much discussed database.

Once this activity was underway it emerged that some preliminary work had been carried out in both USA and Europe, but it was also abundantly clear that if there was to be a real step forward there would need to be a single database, in which data from sources around the world was presented in common formats for the benefit of all the relevant members of the various associations.

Key political decisions were taken by the three organisations during the autumn and winter of 2003. The most important of these was the decision to proceed with the project. As a consequence, a steering committee and technical expertise were assembled to move the project forward, with a very tight schedule of delivering the first public version by October 2004. The project has since continued through the definition, design and testing stages and the first version of the database covering structural parts will be launched to coincide with PM2004 in Vienna.

So how does the database work? The details are as follows. Property Data is collected electronically using agreed templates from a variety of sources from around the world. It is then independently verified by three regional committees set up by the trade associations before being passed to the Global Project Manager (currently Dr David Whittaker) who ensures the data is properly formatted for loading into the database.

The database itself is based upon a system called "Iceflow" which has been developed by nCode International Limited an international software company with specific experience in the fatigue analysis and testing industry. It will be hosted on a specifically registered website www.pmdatabase.com and users will be able to register free of charge in order to access the database.

Freedom to explore optimum uses

Once registered, users will enter the database via a "Windows" style interface and in a truly user-friendly format have various options in terms of the type and level of properties on which to search.

They will be able to see not only tabulated data but also automatically plotted graphs relating key variables such UTS, Yield Strength, Fatigue Endurance Limit, among others, to Density and other properties.

Indeed for those users who wish, the graphs will be downloadable as pictures for inclusion typically in a MS Office document (Word etc.). Also specific properties, for example Young's Modulus, Density and Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion will be available for export to a file suitable to be read directly by the material databases of the popular FE systems such as NASTRAN, ANSYS and Abaqus. This process will be a major benefit in terms of improving customer understanding of PM materials and their capabilities.

A fundamental principle of the database is that it provides information for a designer to explore the optimum use of PM for existing and new applications. So while every effort has been made to ensure the quality of the data provided, the database is not a substitute for direct contact with manufacturers.

Data supplied takes the form of typical and statistical ranges and not guaranteed minimum properties. To assist the user, following his search, the database provides information on the relevant trade association member companies who produce parts from the specific grades the user has identified. This enables the designer to make direct contact to discuss his suggested solution.

The database will initially cover the following materials: PM Steels and Stainless Steels from 6.4 gm/cc upwards, Powder Forged Steels, non ferrous materials and bearing alloys. The project team is now working on a second stage plan for the future long-term development and expansion of the database including extensions into other areas of PM such as metal injection moulding (MIM) and hard materials.

The promotion of the database to end users will need to be undertaken not only by the three trade associations but also by their members, who stand to benefit both directly and indirectly from this excellent new source of information which, being web based, will be available 24/7. Demonstrations of the system will be taking place at the PM World Congress in Vienna and copies of an introductory pack for potential users will be available from either the associations or their members.

One additional benefit is that during the development of the project a spirit of improved collaboration has been engendered between the three associations, which bodes well for the success of the database in both its present form and for its potential for further expansion in the future.