Powder metallurgy (PM) is a metal-forming process that has existed for over a century. In this process, compacted metal powders are heated to just below their melting points. However, it and other technologies that utilize powders only recently gained traction as a superior way of producing high-quality parts for a variety of important applications — including automotive manufacturing.
Metal Iron Powder Used in Powder Metallurgy (PM). The Process is Used When Forming or Melting Metal Cannot Be Used to Make the Required Materials. One Common Process is Laser Sintering (SLS) Where Lasers Are Aimed at the Powder to Bind the Material Together.
The key utility of powder metallurgy (and other powder-based manufacturing) is that it can drastically reduce yield losses in manufacturing, leading to lower costs primarily by ensuring pure alloy quality. It can eliminate the need to use metal removal processes and boasts considerable advantages over other metal forming technologies such as melting, forging, and metal casting. Powder metallurgy allows for unique innovations in modern vehicles without the negative consequences often associated with more traditional techniques. Using metal powders is also recognized as a sustainable, green technology.
Applications of Powder-Based Technology in the Automobile Industry
Year after year, iron-based powders and powder-based technologies are used to manufacture a variety of novel components in cars, trucks, and SUVs. Today, the automotive industry uses an estimated 70% of structural parts produced with powder metallurgy. Here are a few areas in which different powder-based technologies are commonly used in modern vehicles:
- Additive manufacturing: Topology-optimized lightweight construction, integration, and optimization of functions, hybrid manufacturing, repair, and spare parts.
- Powder metallurgy: Gearbox parts, engine parts, brake systems, steering components, transmission components, lighting systems, exhaust applications, connecting rods, fuel system components, window lifters, windshield wipers, actuators, main bearing caps, seating applications, variable valve timing (VVT sprockets), catalytic reduction system, sensors, and heater/air conditioners.
- Coating: Wear resistance, protective coating for thermal load, and repair.
- Metal injection molding (MIM): Geometrically complex components and materials with high lot sizes.
Some common components produced using powder metallurgy include:
- Pulleys
- Spacers
- Bevel gears
- Fuel system flanges
- Exhaust flanges
- Thrust and backup washers
- Sprockets
Advantages of Using Metal Powders in Manufacturing Modern Vehicles
Manufacturing automobile parts through powder metallurgy is a low-cost, green process. When manufacturers order metal powder from suppliers, they should keep these advantages in mind. Here are some of the core benefits of creating auto parts from metal powders:
- Flexibility and customization in the shape and material
- Materials with higher density, strength, and wear resistance
- Near net shape dimensional control
- Complex and unique part production with precision
- Fine surface finishes and specific area surface hardness
- Part-to-part uniformity
- Part weight reduction through “lightening holes”
- Close dimensional tolerances
- Optimum material utilization producing minimal to zero waste
- Overall cost-effective manufacturing of auto components
- Application versatility
- Ideal for large-scale production
The Future of Powder Metallurgy in Auto Parts Manufacturing
One of the most exciting emerging technologies in the automobile industry is electrification — the transition from hybrid or electrical systems to power vehicles. Automotive electrification simplifies and reduces the number of components in modern vehicles (such as the many parts in engines and gearboxes), replacing them instead with batteries and magnetically active materials with very specific physical requirements.
This calls for endless material compositions and a wide range of customizations. Powder metallurgy allows this, unlike traditional wrought steels. All of this suggests a place for metal powders in the future of automobiles and their large-scale electrified applications.