| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 235857 | Powder Technology | 2015 | 6 Pages |
•A water soluble binder system for titanium injection moulding was developed.•The rheological properties of the newly developed feedstock were reported.•The feedstock formulation was optimised.
Binder selection and formulation are critical in powder injection moulding. Binders play a key role in controlling the rheological properties of a feedstock and influence whether the resulting feedstock can be successfully injection moulded, debound and sintered without defects. A four-step process was used to mix hydride-dehydride titanium alloy (processed) powder (Ti–6Al–4V) with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) based water soluble binder system. The rheological properties, including flow behaviour index, flow activation energy, fluidity and melt flow index of the homogeneous feedstock, were determined with a capillary rheometer. All feedstock formulations exhibited shear thinning flow behaviour. The optimum feedstock consisting of 60 vol.% powder content, 32 vol.% PEG, 6 vol.% polyvinyl butyryl and 2 vol.% stearic acid was suitable for titanium injection moulding.
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