Sains Malaysiana 46(2)(2017): 285–293

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2017-4602-13

Effects of Debinding and Sintering Atmosphere on Properties and Corrosion Resistance of Powder Injection Molded 316 L - Stainless Steel

(Kesan Pengikatan dan Pensinteran ke atas Sifat dan Rintangan Kakisan Acuan Suntikan Serbuk 316 L - Keluli Tahan Karat)

MUHAMMAD RAFI RAZA¹*, FAIZ AHMAD², NORHAMIDI MUHAMAD³, ABU BAKAR SULONG³, M.A. OMAR⁴, MAJID NIAZ AKHTAR⁵, MUHAMMAD ASLAM

& IRFAN SHERAZI¹

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Sahiwal

Pakistan

²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia

³Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

⁴Advanced Materials Research Centre (AMREC) SIRIM, Kulim Hi-Tech Park, 09000 Kulim, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia

⁵Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore, Pakistan

Received: 13 June 2015/Accepted: 11 May 2016

ABSTRACT

316L stainless steel is a common biomedical material. Currently, biomedical parts are produced through powder injection molding (PIM). Carbon control is the most critical in PIM. Improper debinding can significantly change the properties of the final product. In this work, thermal debinding and sintering were performed in two different furnaces (i.e. laboratory and commercially available furnaces) to study the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Debounded samples were sintered in different atmospheres. The samples sintered in inert gas showed enhanced mechanical properties compared with wrought 316L stainless steel and higher corrosion rate than those sintered in the vacuum furnace. The densification and tensile strength of the hydrogen sintered samples increased up to 3% and 51%, respectively, compared with those of the vacuum-sintered samples. However, the samples sintered in inert gas also exhibited reduced ductility and corrosion resistance. This finding is attributed to the presence of residual carbon in debonded samples during debinding.

Keywords: Corrosion resistance; debinding; mechanical properties; powder injection molding; weight loss method

ABSTRAK

Keluli tahan karat 316L adalah bahan lazim bioperubatan. Pada masa ini, bahagian bioperubatan dihasilkan melalui acuan suntikan serbuk (PIM). Kawalan karbon adalah yang paling kritikal dalam PIM. Pengikatan sumbang boleh mengubah sifat akhir produk. Dalam kertas ini, pengikatan haba dan persinteran telah dijalankan di dua relau berbeza (Makmal dan relau yang tersedia secara komersial) untuk mengkaji sifat mekanik dan rintangan kakisan. Sampel terikat telah disinter dalam atmosfera berbeza. Sampel yang disinter dalam gas lengai yang menunjukkan peningkatan sifat mekanik berbanding dengan keluli tahan karat tempaan 316L dan kadar kakisan yang lebih tinggi berbanding yang disinter dalam vakum relau. Kepadatan dan kekuatan tegangan sampel hidrogen yang disinter meningkat masing-masing kepada 3% dan 51% berbanding dengan sampel yang disinter secara vakum. Walau bagaimanapun, sampel yang disinter dalam gas lengai juga menunjukkan pengurangan rintangan kemuluran dan kakisan. Keputusan kajian ini adalah kerana sifat sisa karbon dalam sampel ikatan semasa pengikatan.

Kata kunci: Acuan suntikan serbuk; kaedah kehilangan berat; rintangan kakisan; pengikatan; sifat mekanik

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*Corresponding author; email: rafirazamalik@gmail.com