Determination of the optimal process parameters in metal injection molding from experiments and numerical modeling

The determination of optimal process parameters to produce parts by metal injection molding without defects and with required mechanical properties is discussed in the paper, based on experiments and numerical modeling. The experiments are carried out with a multi-cavity mould specially designed and equipped to measure and record different parameters during the injection stage. The debinding and sintering cycles are optimized to get the components free of defects, too. Based on modeling techniques using a biphasic flow formulation and a newly developed explicit algorithm, numerical simulations are realized to predict the segregation effects in injection. This novel algorithm in fractional steps and the related finite element software lead efficiently to accurate correlations between experiments and simulations.