Evaluation and Analysis of Distortion of Complex Shaped Ti-6Al-4V Compacts by Metal Injection Molding Process

Titanium and its alloys have been widely used for medical and aerospace applications because of their excellent attributes of high specific strength, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. However, it is not easy to produce the complex shaped parts due to their poor castability and machinability. Metal injection molding (MIM) is one of suitable processing technique to produce the complex shaped parts in order to reduce the manufacturing cost. In this study, complex shaped Ti-6Al-4V compacts was prepared by MIM process for airplane application. The effects of high molecular binder content and different compact's set-up during thermal debinding on the distortion of complex shaped compacts were measured and evaluated. The binder with 10 % APP (Atactic polypropylene) was found to have better shape retention for the parts. Furthermore the results indicate that high distortion occurs at early stage of thermal debinding process. The use of supports during thermal debinding can significantly reduce the distortion of the final parts.