Debinding Process of a Starch-Based Binder in Metal Injection Moulding

Abstract

In this study, a combination of starch, glycerol, linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and other additives was utilized as the binder composition. The effect of different parameters such as thickness, temperature and time on debinding process of green parts was investigated. Discs of different thicknesses consisting of 2, 2.7 and 3 mm were submitted to the water bath in order to obtain curves of time versus remaining mass of binder. Moreover, the injected tensile bar test specimens was utilized to observe specially the effect of temperature on rate of binder extraction from the green parts. The experiments were conducted at three sets of temperatures including 70, 80 and 90°C. The rate of binder removing considerably increased by decreasing the thickness of the discs. On the other hand, proportion of removed binder in injected tensile bar specimens increased in higher temperatures. The debinding process was successfully performed on injected tensile bars and the components did not suffer from any cracks and swellings. Moreover, the results show that more than 80% of the binder system can be extracted in 6 hours, which is in the acceptable time range. The investigation confirms that from the viewpoint of debinding, starch has a good potential as a binder component in MIM process.