Master decomposition curve for binders used in powder injection molding

Abstract

Thermal debinding is one of the crucial steps in powder injection processing. To systematically analyze and design the thermal debinding step, a master decomposition curve (MDC) has been formulated and constructed based on the intrinsic kinetics of polymer pyrolysis. The Kissinger method is used to estimate the activation energy from thermogravimetric studies. Overall thermal decomposition behavior has been synthesized from the MDCs of individual components of the binder system with good experimental agreement. Thus, process design changes can be calculated without additional experiment, because the MDC concept allows synthesis of new compositions. The input data were obtained from industrial debinding practice. In addition, the catalytic or high-conduction heat-transfer effect of metal powders has been investigated in terms of different powders. Sensitivity analysis is also done to identify the critical parameters in thermal decomposition of binders during debinding.