Metal injection moulding of HS12-1-5-5 high-speed steel using a PW-HDPE based binder

In this communication, we present the powder injection moulding (PIM) of HS12-1-5-5 high-speed steel parts using a wax-HDPE based binder. The injection moulding process of the feedstock (68 vol.% of metal) has been optimized to obtain high quality green parts. The elimination of organic binder was carried out by thermal debinding under inert atmosphere. In order to keep carbon in the sample that could improve the sintering process, incomplete debinding were performed between 450 and 500 °C. In this study, we have studied the effect of different atmospheres on the debinding process. Debinding was performed under nitrogen and argon. The specimens were sintered at temperatures between 1200 and 1300 °C with steps of 10 °C in following mixture N2–10% H2 atmosphere. The PIM parts present higher density than those obtained by conventional PM.