Influence of micro-size titanium powders on mechanical properties of powder injection molded 316L stainless steel

Powder injection molding (PIM) is a fast developing technology with significance of
shape complexity, dimensional accuracy, replication fidelity and material variety
combined with high-volume capabilities. To solve the challenge of producing
materials with higher mechanical properties with the same or even lower weight,
PIM can be consider a suitable technique; PIM enables us to enhance mechanical
properties of base material by adding reinforcement powders. In this research the
influence of micro-size titanium powders in enhancement of mechanical properties
of stainless steel 316L SS is analyzed by producing samples with different volume
percentage of titanium which include 0.2 Vol%, 0.8 Vol% and 1.5 Vol%. Moreover
in this research the only variable remains the differences in compositions of
feedstock, hence the process of sample production is unique for all three samples
including binder system, feedstock preparation, injection molding, solvent
debinding, thermal debinding and sintering.