Experimental Investigation of Comparative Process Capabilities of Metal and Ceramic Injection Molding for Precision Applications

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to make a comparative study on the process capabilities of the two branches of the powder injection molding (PIM) process—metal injection molding (MIM) and ceramic injection molding (CIM), for highend precision applications. The stateoftheart literature does not make a clear comparative picture of the process capabilities of MIM and CIM. The current paper systematically characterizes the MIM and CIM processes and presents the process capabilities in terms of part shrinkage, surface replication, tolerance capability, and morphological fidelity. The results and discussion presented in the paper will be useful for thorough understanding of the MIM and CIM processes and to select the right material and process for the right application or even to combine metal and ceramic materials by molding to produce metal–ceramic hybrid components.