Looking closely at PM lubes through the microscope to ‘see real effects’

The use and effect of lubricants during compaction and ejection of metal powder has long been studied from a macro perspective, assessing effects of different factors but ignoring the actual mechanisms through which they operate. A Swedish research group has looked at the physical interaction between the metal powder, lubricant and tool wall on a microscopic level…By constructing the new compaction tool, both SEM and XPS observations of the tool surface were made possible. The tool surfaces were studied after 1-20 compactions at 400 MPa using powder mixtures with 0.8 wt% EBS