Overview of previous and current research and industry some developments.

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A titanium industry for

New Zealand?

Paul Ewart Ph.D (Candidate)

Professor Deliang Zhang Chief Supervisor

Monday, 7 September 2020

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• Overview

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 2 Introduction

Titanium and its uses

Titanium in New Zealand Powder metallurgy

Metal injection moulding The science of MIM

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• Introduction

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 3 The minerals rutile, anatase and brookite

serve as a source for commercial Ti

The metal can also be mined from minerals such as ilmenite or leucoxene ores, or rutile beach sand

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• Titanium and its uses

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 4 Ti and its alloys are used for bicycle parts to

orthopaedic devices and spacecraft

They have superior corrosion resistance, strength and temperature performance Negative aspects include high cost, poor

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• Titanium in New Zealand

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 5 The use of Ti in NZ is limited to imported

goods and some bar stock with use restricted because of high processing cost

NZ has its own resource, Titanomagnetite, the black iron sand of the West Coast

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• Powder metallurgy

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 6 Powder metallurgy utilises the high surface

energies of fine powders to process high

temperature metals at reduced temperatures Processing metal powders using press forming

and sintering is limited to simple geometries Metal Powder Injection Moulding (MIM) is a

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• Injection moulding

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 7 Injection moulding in New Zealand is a

mature industry with many world leading companies

Equipment is produced in Europe, North America, China

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• Injection moulding process

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 8 Heat feedstock

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• Metal injection moulding

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 9 Batching/ mixing

Compounding Granulation

Injection moulding Debinding

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• Batching/ mixing

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 10 Measuring correct ratio of metal powder to

binder Mixing:

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• Compounding

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 11 The batched and mixed powder feedstock is

intensively mixed at elevated temperature to produce solid granular feedstock

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• Injection moulding

© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO • TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO 12 The feedstock is processed in the injection

moulder at temperatures to enable uniform flow that fills the mould

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• Debinding

Solvent Catalytic

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• Sintering

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• Finishing

Minimal machining Internal threads

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• Automated MIM

should be possible to automate the MIM process with the use of robotic takeoff and computer

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• Quality of part

but rely on essential operations to ensure best: Green Part

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[1] Fabricating sports equipment components via powder metallurgy. V S Moxson; F H Froes. JOM; Apr 2001; 53, 4 [2] The Metal Injection Molding Association, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA . www.mimaweb.org

[3] Catamoldâ Feedstock for Powder Injection Molding: Processing - Properties – Applications. Technical Information, BASF

Aktiengesellschaft 2002.

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