Current Projects
Global PM Property Database Project In October 2000 EPMA Council decided that the competitiveness of ferrous Powder Metallurgy in higher duty applications was seriously hindered by a lack of good quality data on mechanical properties of sintered materials. Accordingly a project was started May 2001, the first stage of which was a review of current data in cooperation with key interested parties internationally. The main rationale for this project is to improve the competitiveness of ferrous powder metallurgy in higher duty applications.
Competing processes such as casting forming and plastics currently offer end user designers computer based design tools. These interface well with CAD drawing packages and incorporate data on static and dynamic properties. Such packages enable designers to calculate stress levels in response to applied loads and thereby to optimise material choice and component geometry.
As a result of the desk review and subsequent discussions a major joint project worth over €200 000 was initiated in 2003 with the MPIF and JPMA. During this project good quality data was loaded into a specially written database in a form suitable for the main existing commercial design tools.
The resulting Global PM Property Database was launched in October 2004 and can be seen at www.pmdatabase.com . Further expansion of the database to include MIM materials and additional ferrous structural data is currently underway.
For further information contact Olivier Coube email: oc@epma.com
This project is only open to full and associate members of EPMA.
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DesignforPM
Project Aims & Objectives
The launch meeting for the new "Design for PM" project was held in Düsseldorf, Germany on 4 October. This two-year programme has 14 partners from industry, academia and training centres and will develop a series of e-learning modules. These compact modules will be aimed at increasing the knowledge of designers and engineers from across industry, who are interested in specifying PM products. The online courses will cover the structural parts, Hard materials and MIM sectors. The EPMA led project has a budget of nearly €500,000 and forms a key part of the association's ongoing promotional efforts on behalf of the PM industry. Some 74% of the cost is being contributed by the EU's Leonardo da Vinci vocational training programme, with the balance provided by the EPMA and the other partners.
www.designforpm.net
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EPMA Bioavailability Test Programme
“Bioavailability of Powders and Product”
The EU REACH legislation due for implementation in 2007 will require manufacturers to supply data showing the risks to human health and the environment. It is possible that nickel metals and nickel containing alloys will be classified as hazardous and therefore this data will be important in obtaining Registration
Following the tests carried out in 2005 to obtain the "bioavailability" of
copper containing sintered materials, we are undertaking a repeat programme in which the copper is replaced by nickel. Samples of Iron and Copper powders, of sintered and sintered/forged Fe-Cu-C are subjected to a series of tests by CANMET using the OECD Transformation Protocol.
The project Objectives were to find out if there is significant difference between sintered materials and their constituent powders, to evaluate the bioavailability of nickel powder and Fe-Ni-C sintered material and to measure against known LC50 data
The second series tests (Fe-Ni-C) have now been completed. Subject to the agreement of Stage 2 consortium it is planned to invite the test laboratory CANMET to publish Stage 1 and Stage 2 results in a prestigious journal as a reference paper for legislators.
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Tungsten Carbide Powder Characterisation – Nanometre to Micrometre This club project organised by the European Hard Materials Group is now in its second phase under the control of Dr Brian Roebuck at NPL, London. The first phase was a survey for the Hardmetal Industry performed by Prof Bevis Hutchinson (SIMR) and Dr Olle Grinder (PM Technology AB) on the characterisation of Particle and Grain Size in the Range Nanometre to Micrometre.
Because hardmetals are made from micrometre-sized particles the measurement of ‘fine to very fine' particle sizes is an issue of substantial interest. The suitability of fine powders depends not only on average size but also on size distribution and chemistry. The number of potential measurement methods is large and it is not easy to decide which is the most appropriate technique for a given size measurement problem. Often, there are good technical reasons to expect different results from different methods; repeatability and reproducibility is very important.
It is important for industry to have confidence in methods suitable for quantifying powders and grain structures and to have knowledge of their accuracy and validity. Activities in the project will include
• Development of Good Testing Practice for existing instrumental methods
• Reference Powders Feasibility of implementation
• New Measurement Techniques
For further details please contact email: bryan.roebuck@npl.co.uk .
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 PowderMatriX
The EPMA is a core partner of the PowdermatriX Project funded by the UK Government and managed by CERAM research. PowdermatriX is a UK network in particulate engineering, focused initially on the advanced ceramic, powder metal, hard metal and magnetics industries. It links industry, intermediate organisations and universities to identify and provide support to meet industry's needs for technology, research and training.
Other Core partners are CERAM, Birmingham, Loughborough and Manchester Universities, the British Hardmetals Association, the National Physical Laboratory and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Currently over 150 companies and 25 UK universities have joined our network. Our services include industrially relevant research and training programmes, individual company support through our team of Technology Translators, and a wide programme of meetings and networking events.
This Project is restricted to companies operating in the UK only. For any UK companies interested in information on joining PowdermatriX complete an enquiry form or contact Stuart MacLachlan email: powdermatrix@ceram.com or 01782 764404.
www.powdermatrix.com
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New PIMSIM Project Launched in MIM Sector
January 2007 saw the launch meeting of a new project within the MIM sector. Using pilot funding from regional development agencies the PIMSIM project is coordinated by Dr Rudolf Zauner from ARC Siebersdorf.
The aim of PIMSIM is to adapt PIM software by developing modules and to test and validate this software with components where mould filling issues cause long development times and costly alterations of the moulding tools (iterative mould design).
At the end of the project, a validated software tool for simulating the moulding process of PIM components will be available which has been tried and tested as part of the project. A method for acquiring reliable material data and their implementation in the software will be established. The software will shorten development times and save costs by dispensing with expensive and time-consuming iterative mould design.
The project has a value of around €1 million and will last for two years. The role of EPMA will be the dissemination of information to its network of contacts within the PM industry. For further information on the project and its partners please go to the PIMSIM website at http://redsea.at/pimsim/index.php or contact
Dr. Rudolf Zauner Powder Technology Center Functional Materials Austrian Research Centers GmbH - ARC A-2444 Seibersdorf Austria
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New Innovative Metals Processing Centre in UK
A new €10 million research centre for Innovative Metals Processing (the IMP-C) has been set up by the University of Sheffield. It will concentrate amongst other things on the processing of titanium and its alloys by powder metallurgy –specifically by MIM and direct write technologies. The IMP-C is industrially focussed and is supported by a consortium of industrial partners including; Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Arburg and BASF. The EPMA will be involved in the dissemination of information to its range of contacts across the PM industry.
With funding for the centre's first four-years, the centre will employ academics from the University of Sheffield, engineers, technicians and PhD level students. Additionally, IMP-C sponsor companies will be encouraged to place staff in the IMP-C to collaborate with academic and technical staff on projects. All programmes will have the priority of transferring knowledge and opportunities into regional companies. This will be done via direct contact and technology transfer programmes. Proposed project for the centre include MIM of titanium for aerospace and biomedical device applications; large and hollow sectioned MIM components as competitors for castings; and developing an integrated MIM minifactory
Contact Dr Ian Todd University of Sheffield UK - I.Todd@sheffield.ac.uk
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