Effects of thermal debinding on surface roughness in micro powder injection molding

Micro metal injection molding (μMIM) is a promising process for the replication of metallic microstructures. In the micrometer regime, surface roughness is important in view of the dimensional tolerance and the applications of microstructured parts. In this paper, the effects of debinding on the surface roughness of 316 L stainless steel microstructured parts were investigated. Experimental results showed that using higher heating rates during debinding increased the weight loss of debound parts. The debound parts of higher weight loss gave better surface finish after sintering. Comparing the increase of sintering time and temperature, the surface finish improvement was more significant for increasing temperature.