Sinter furnaces in robust vertical design

In the manufacture of MIM (Metal Injection Molding) components, debinding is carried out first. Different processes are employed. Debinding of extruded parts is frequently effected at first in water or solvents. The type and residue of the binder in the component as well as the type of metallic materials determine the furnace solution used for thermal residual debinding and sintering. In the case of very large quantities of residual binder (as a rule these are polymers) it is recommended to always employ thermal pre-debinding and, if required, pre-sintering outside of the high temperature sintering furnaces in order to prevent contamination so that the high temperature sintering furnace remains clean. In the case of catalytic debinding, sintering is effected in the vertical thermal debinding/sintering furnace, as the residual binder quantity is low, and the components need not be moved longer.

A solution tailored, for example, to the BASF Feedstock is the combination of a catalytic debinding furnace followed by residual debinding and sintering in a vacuum sintering furnace. We have detailed the combination of a catalytic debinding furnace and a residual debinding & sintering furnace here only as a possible solution.

Hard metals can be basically divided according to the following alloy types: WC-Co hard metal, WC-(Ti,Ta,Nb) C-Co hard metal, cermets (hard metal containing high levels of titanium carbide) and special carbides. Typical applications are, for example: machine tools, non-chip producing processes (drawing dies, die plates, rolling etc.). Wearing parts like bearings, sealing rings, plunger, grinding spindle, equipping in reduction devices, pressing tools and much, much more. As a rule the carbide components undergo debinding and pre-sintering after pressing (green parts) in a debinding/pre-sintering furnace in order to again, if necessary, process the brown parts mechanically before the high temperature sintering stage. The sintering process employed depends on the required density of the carbide components. Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) is employed for carbide components of the highest density and for the great remainder of carbide metals high temperature sintering in inert gas at low atmospheric pressure or high temperature sintering in a vacuum. The sintering temperatures usually range from 350 °C – 1500 °C. For customers who employ a process with partial pressure debinding the furnace can also be fitted with a partial pressure system for the infinitely variable adjustment from 1 to 1000 mbar. We recommend debinding and sintering under inert gas atmospheric conditions or reactive gas atmosphere under slight atmospheric overpressure with thermal post combustion of the binder. This is the fastest and cleanest process for the manufacture of cemented carbides of a consistent high quality!

Carbonising, Graphitising & Siliconizing in High Temperature Furnaces Our high temperature furnaces are mainly utilised to manufacture CFC parts, graphite components, graphite fibres and silicon carbide components. Components from these materials currently find application predominantly in the furnace construction industry and in the aerospace industry. Due to the interesting material properties such as light-weight construction paired with high strength or extremely high load-carrying capacity in very high temperatures in oxygen-free atmosphere, components made of the above-mentioned materials are increasingly in demand. To manufacture graphite components of the highest purity, temperatures over 2800 °C are required. Alternatively, the highest level of purity can also be achieved with temperatures of 2000 °C upwards if used in combination with a cleaning gas. We supply laboratory and production furnaces for the manufacture of carbon-based materials. We work with you to analyze your process and capacity requirements and select the furnace solution that best meets your component geometry needs and material production flow. The selection of the system basically depends on the process required, the component geometry and the component quantity. As a rule we always have a furnace in production that can be used to carry out tests on your component samples. Please understand that we cannot carry out these trials free of charge.