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About

Metal injection molding MIM is more than just another molding process.

Kurusa Ádám az AFT MIM ügyvezetője

AFT was established in Hungary in 2001 as a member of the ARC Group. Since then, we have been developing and manufacturing customized metal parts for our partners so that they can sell their products at a higher profit margin. More than 30 years ago, our engineers invented a great and new process that combined the traditional powder metallurgy process with plastic injection molding: the result was the MIM (Metal Injection Molding) technology as we call it nowdays.

With this 30 years of knowledge and experience in our hands, we are now able to produce millions of pieces of extremely fast, precision metal parts, which are used by our partners in almost every field - automotive, defense and even in space technology.

The technological developments of the last three decades have helped us to offer our partners much more competitive prices compared to

traditional manufacturing technologies.

This way - based on our exprience - we can realize a higher profit margin of up to 70-90% . We did all this without compromising on quality, because it is important for us...

Process

1.

Feedstock Mixing & Granulating

INFORMATION

The first step in the MIM manufacturing process is the production of the feedstock that will be used. It begins with extensive characterization of very fine elemental or prealloyed metal powders (generally less than 20 micrometre).

The first step in the MIM manufacturing process is the production of the feedstock that will be used. It begins with extensive characterization of very fine elemental or prealloyed metal powders (generally less than 20 micrometre).

2.

Molding

INFORMATION

The next step is the molding of the part in a conventional injection molding machine.Theoretically these machines are standard plastic injection molding equipments, but equipped with special screws, barrels, tools, etc.


The feedstock pellets are gravity fed from a hopper into the machine’s barrel where heaters melt the binder, bringing the feedstock to the consistency of toothpaste. A reciprocating screw forces the material into a two-part mold through openings called gates. Once cooled, the part is ejected from the mold with its highly complex geometry fully formed. The molded parts are called “Green parts” , which are usually placed on their special ceramic trays without human touch. These trays are used through the next steps until final quality check and inspection. If necessary, additional design features not feasible during the molding process (undercuts or cross holes, for example) can be easily added at this stage by machining or another secondary operation.

3.

Binder Removal

INFORMATION

The first step in the MIM manufacturing process is the production of the feedstock that will be used. It begins with extensive characterization of very fine elemental or prealloyed metal powders (generally less than 20 micrometre).


This stage is to remove most of the binder, leaving behind only enough to serve as a backbone holding the size and geometry of the part completely intact. This process, commonly referred to as “debinding,” may be performed chemically (catalytic debinding) or thermally, which in some cases may involve a solvent bath as the initial step. The choice of debinding method depends on the material being processed, required physical and metallurgical properties, and chemical composition. After debinding, the part is referred to as a “brown part.”

4.

Sintering

INFORMATION

After debinding the parts are sintered in the vacuum furnace to reach their final size. As the parts are porous, this special step of vacuum sintering is needed to produce ready parts. The sintering takes 20 to 25 hours on a controlled temperature and atmosphere close to the melting point.


The remaining binder is removed in the early part of the cycle, followed by the elimination of pores and the fusing of the metal particles as the part shrinks (18-20%) isotropically to it’s design dimensions and transforms into a dense solid. The sintered density is approximately 98% of theoretical. The end result is a net-shape or near-net-shape metal component, with properties similar to those of one machined from bar stock. Of course, if necessary, post-sintering operations such as coining, machining, heat treating, coating, and others, may be performed on the part to achieve tighter tolerances or enhanced properties
UKAS
ISO 9001:2015 — International Organization for Standardization
The ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) is the world’s most popular quality management standard, with over one million certified organisations in 180 countries worldwide. ISO 9001 provides a quality management framework that companies can use to ensure the quality of their products and services is consistent. Companies choose ISO 9001 certification to show that they have taken due care to maintain high standards. This reduces the chance of product faults and recalls or service shortcomings and ensures that your customers can buy with confidence.
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Iatf
IATF 16949:2016 — International Automotive Task Force
IATF 16949 specifies the requirements of a quality management system for automotive production. Born from the need for a globally harmonised quality management system requirements document, IATF 16949 was published in October 2016. It supersedes the automotive standard ISO/TS 16949, which is no longer valid. IATF 16949 requirements include the following key aspects:

  • Product safety
  • Risk management and contingency planning
  • Requirements for embedded software
  • Change and warranty management
  • Management of sub-tier suppliers

Our free whitepaper provides further Information about the certification requirement and process.
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Advanced Forming Technology, the place where you come to get inspired.

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Rétság, Nógrád County
2651 Hungary

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