Abbott Furnace Company manufactures continuous belt sintering furnaces used in the powder metal industry. Sintering is a heat treatment applied to a powder compact in order to impart strength and integrity. The temperature used for sintering is below the melting point of the major constituent of the powdered metal material.
Abbott Furnace Company designs and builds custom sintering furnaces around our clients’ manufacturing needs – the time, temperature, and atmosphere requirements for their specific product manufacturing process.
SINTERING FUNDAMENTALS
The production of powdered metal components can be summarized in three steps: powder preparation, compaction, and sintering.
Metal powder is first formed and blended to a desired chemical composition. During this step, a lubricant, such as wax, is added to help in the ejection of compacts from the molding press. The metal powder mixture is then put into a punch and die toolset of a molding press and compacted to form a “green” compact.
