Metal injection molding(MIM) has been expected to have significant utility in manufacturing of relatively small and complex shaped parts, and also MIM has enormous potential even in the ferrous market. The aim of this study is to attain high performance ferrous materials by using 4600 steel component powders. However, the mechanical properties of powders shaped by MIM techniques are affected by the grain size, sintered density, and carbon content. Especially, it is very important to control the carbon level which depends on several factors such as debinding approach and sintering conditions (atmosphere, temperature, and time). In this paper, effects of the above factors on the carbon retention and structure have been investigated by means of carbon analysis, optical microscopy, and density and hardness measurements.
Solvent debinding followed by final thermal debinding produced the fine and homogeneous sintered structures which suggest excellent properties. Although the carbon content was very sensitive to the debinding and sintering conditions, it was found that the residual carbon content was mainly controlled by adjusting the weight loss after debinding.