Optimization of Debinding Process Parameters in Metal Injection Molding (MIM) for High Density of Sintered Parts

Abstract

The identification of significant process parameters during debinding of green parts in Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) is needed to control the characteristics of brown parts. A small change in these parameters can cause large variation in the density of the parts produced by MIM. The controlled parameters used for optimization in this work include the thermal debinding temperature (T_td), solvent debinding temperature (T_sd), and isothermal holding time (t_ih). These parameters have been optimized using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for signal to noise ratios obtained in experiment performed by following Taguchi L₉ orthogonal array. The ANOVA also provides the contribution of significant process parameters to final density. Results show that two of the three factors are the significant factors. The solvent debinding temperature (T_sd) and thermal debinding temperature (T_td) are the significant factors. Isothermal holding time (t_ih) found to be insignificant factor and its contribution is combined as error in pooling. Solvent debinding temperature (T_sd) has the maximum contribution of 85.79% at a confidence level of 99%, and thermal debinding temperature has a contribution of 13.39% at a confidence interval of 95%.