Fabrication of thin-walled 316L stainless steel seamless pipes by extrusion technology

Thin-walled 316L stainless steel seamless pipes with different diameters are fabricated by extrusion technology. An aqueous solution of water-soluble hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) is used as binder. The effect of the binder content on the extrusion behavior of the pipe is discussed. The green products are debound and pressureless sintered at vacuum atmosphere. Good thin-walled pipes have been obtained after sintering at 1100 °C, and at that temperature, a microstructure with the battle-necks forming between the round particles has formed that guarantees the thin-walled pipes having the pores with homogeneous size distribution. Scanning electron microscope is used to observe the microstructure.