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EDITORIAL REVIEW COMMITTEE 

P.W. Taubenblat, Chairman 

I.E. Anderson, FAPMI 

T. Ando 

S.G. Caldwell 

S.C. Deevi 

D. Dombrowski 

J.J. Dunkley 

Z. Fang 

B.L. Ferguson 

W. Frazier 

K. Kulkarni, FAPMI 

K.S. Kumar 

T.F. Murphy 

J.W. Newkirk 

P.D. Nurthen 

J.H. Perepezko 

P.K. Samal 

H.I. Sanderow 

D.W. Smith, FAPMI 

R. Tandon 

T.A. Tomlin 

D.T. Whychell, Sr., FAPMI 

M. Wright, PMT 

A. Zavaliangos 

INTERNATIONAL LIAISON COMMITTEE 

D. Whittaker (UK) Chairman 

V. Arnhold (Germany) 

E.C. Barba (Mexico) 

P. Beiss (Germany) 

C. Blais (Canada) 

P. Blanchard (France) 

G.F. Bocchini (Italy) 

F. Chagnon (Canada) 

C-L Chu (Taiwan) 

O. Coube (Europe) 

H. Danninger (Austria) 

U. Engström (Sweden) 

O. Grinder (Sweden) 

S. Guo (China) 

F-L Han (China) 

K.S. Hwang (Taiwan) 

Y.D. Kim (Korea) 

G. L’Espérance, FAPMI (Canada) 

H. Miura (Japan) 

C.B. Molins (Spain) 

R.L. Orban (Romania) 

T.L. Pecanha (Brazil) 

F. Petzoldt (Germany) 

S. Saritas (Turkey) 

G.B. Schaffer (Australia) 

Y. Takeda (Japan) 

G.S. Upadhyaya (India) 

Publisher 

C. James Trombino, CAE 

jtrombino@mpif.org 

Editor-in-Chief 

Alan Lawley, FAPMI 

alan.lawley@drexel.edu 

Managing Editor 

James P. Adams 

jadams@mpif.org 

Contributing Editor 

Peter K. Johnson 

pjohnson@mpif.org 

Advertising Manager 

Jessica S. Tamasi 

jtamasi@mpif.org 

Copy Editor 

Donni Magid 

dmagid@mpif.org 

Production Assistant 

Dora Schember 

dschember@mpif.org 

President of APMI International 

Nicholas T. Mares 

ntmares@asbury.com 

Executive Director/CEO, APMI International 

C. James Trombino, CAE 

jtrombino@mpif.org 

international journal of 

powder 

metallurgy 

Contents 44/4 July/August 2008 

2 Editor's Note 

5 PM Industry News in Review 

9 PMT Spotlight On …Luis Bernardo Zambrano Merino 

11 Consultants’ Corner Harb S. Nayar, FAPMI 

15 2008 APMI Fellow Awards Paul Beiss and Pierre Taubenblat 

16 2008 Poster Awards 

H. Jorge and A.M. Cunha 

J. Martz, C. Braun and S.C. Johnson 

20 Kempton H. Roll Powder Metallurgy Lifetime Achievement 

Award Arlan J. Clayton 

21 2008 PM Design Excellence Awards Competition Winners 

P.K. Johnson 

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 

27 Consolidation of Aluminum Powder During Extrusion 

V.V. Dabhade, P. Kansuwan and W.Z. Misiolek 

GLOBAL REVIEW 

37 Powder Metallurgy in India 

G.S. Upadhyaya 

HISTORICAL PROFILE 

43 Tungsten Filaments—The First Modern PM Product 

P.K. Johnson 

ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY 

49 State of the PM Industry in North America—2008 

M. Paullin 

DEPARTMENTS 

53 Book Review 

55 Meetings and Conferences 

56 Advertisers’ Index 

Cover: Grand Prize–winning parts from MPIF’s 2008 Design Excellence 

Awards Competition. 

The International Journal of Powder Metallurgy (ISSN No. 0888-7462) is a professional publication serving the scientific and technological 

needs and interests of the powder metallurgist and the metal powder producing and consuming industries. Advertising 

carried in the Journal is selected so as to meet these needs and interests. Unrelated advertising cannot be accepted. 

Published bimonthly by APMI International, 105 College Road East, Princeton, N.J. 08540-6692 USA. Telephone (609) 452- 

7700. Periodical postage paid at Princeton, New Jersey, and at additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2008 by APMI International. 

Subscription rates to non-members; USA, Canada and Mexico: $95.00 individuals, $220.00 institutions; overseas: additional 

$40.00 postage; single issues $50.00. Printed in USA by Cadmus Communications Corporation, P.O. Box 27367, Richmond, 

Virginia 23261-7367. Postmaster send address changes to the International Journal of Powder Metallurgy, 105 College Road East, 

Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA USPS#267-120 

ADVERTISING INFORMATION 

Jessica Tamasi, APMI International 

105 College Road East, Princeton, New Jersey 08540-6692 USA 

INTERNATIONAL 

Tel: (609) 452-7700 • Fax: (609) 987-8523 • E-mail: jtamasi@mpif.org

2 

EDITOR’S NOTE 

The 2008 World Congress on Powder Metallurgy & Particulate Materials is 

now history. By any yardstick this international event was a success. 

This post-show issue of the Journal includes the text of the “State of the 

PM Industry in North America—2008” address given by MPIF President Mark 

Paullin, and Peter Johnson’s review of the “2008 PM Design Excellence 

Awards” competition. Parts receiving a Grand Prize are displayed on the front 

cover. 

2008 marks the centenary of the incandescent ductile-tungsten lamp 

filament. In a fascinating historical chronology, Peter Johnson traces the 

R&D leading to this invention by William Coolidge. Little has changed in the 

commercial process for fabricating ductile-tungsten filaments since they were 

introduced in 1908! 

India is experiencing a boom in its manufacturing base, including PM 

processing. In his “Global Review,” Gopal Upadhyaya has compiled a 

comprehensive update on metal powder and parts production, including 

cemented carbides, and advanced ceramics. Also included is a current 

assessment of R&D in academe, the PM industry, and government facilities. 

Reducing costs and increasing productivity to offset rising energy and raw 

material costs has become a necessary goal of PM parts producers in North 

America. To this end, Harb Nayar offers a simple but documented approach in 

the “Consultants’ Corner.” Reader reaction is encouraged. 

In the “Research & Development” section, Dabhade et al. examine the 

consolidation behavior of aluminum powder during extrusion, based on 

two-dimensional and three-dimensional density/porosity contour maps and 

attendant hardness levels. The study identifies the importance of particle 

shape on extrusion response. 

I offer congratulations to Paul Beiss and Pierre Taubenblat, the 2008 APMI 

Fellow Award recipients. Both are long-time professional peers and have made 

seminal contributions to APMI and the PM industry. Also, congratulations to 

Arlan Clayton, the first recipient of the Kempton H. Roll Powder Metallurgy 

Lifetime Achievement Award. Arlan served as a director of APMI from 1995 to 

1999. 

Diran Apelian, a Fellow of APMI International, is currently serving as the 

52nd president of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS). He has 

initiated a monthly “Presidential Perspective” (PP) and, with a foot in both 

camps (APMI and TMS), I found the focus of a recent PP of particular interest 

vis-à-vis APMI. The expanding field of minerals, metals, and materials is seen 

by Diran as a major challenge to TMS. He notes that, compared with two or 

three decades ago, the “new professional” schooled in materials science and 

engineering (MSE) can now be found working in diverse fields such as food 

processing, biomaterials, fuel cells, nanotechnology, microelectromechanical 

systems, computational sciences, advanced polymers, drug delivery, and 

pharmaceutical science. How can TMS be the voice of this new professional 

in the broadened domain of MSE? One can readily substitute APMI for TMS in 

this context. How will our scientific/technological society (APMI) embrace and 

engage the new MSE professional? 

Alan Lawley 

Editor-in-Chief 

Volume 44, Issue 4, 2008 

International Journal of Powder Metallurgy

The following items have appeared in PM Newsbytes since the previous 

issue of the Journal. To read a fuller treatment of any of these items, go 

to www.apmiinternational.org, login to the “Members Only” section, and 

click on “Expanded Stories from PM Newsbytes.” 

Big Tungsten Deal Signed 

The Plansee Group, Reutte, Austria, 

has agreed to purchase the Global 

Tungsten & Powders (GTP) business 

unit from OSRAM GmbH, Munich, 

Germany, a Siemens company, for 

an undisclosed amount. GTP, which 

posted fiscal year 2007 sales of 

approximately 280 million euros 

(about $437 million), employs 1,050 

people in plants in Towanda, Pa., 

and Bruntál, Czech Republic. 

Atomization Course in U.K. 

Atomising Systems Limited, 

Sheffield, U.K., will conduct a 

course entitled Atomisation for 

Metal Powders, October 20–21, 

2008, at the University of Salford in 

Manchester, U.K. The course will 

cover the fundamental principles of 

atomization and the primary methods 

of spraying metals. 

Chinese Auto Industry Booming 

Last year 5.2 million passenger 

vehicles were sold in China, reports 

Automotive News in its 2008 Guide 

to China’s Auto Market. Overall 

sales jumped 21 percent compared 

to 2006, while sales of SUVs surged 

50 percent to 357,000 units. 

Web Site Re-Launched 

The NanoSteel Company has relaunched 

its Web site nanosteelco. 

com. The new site includes a new 

design, easier navigation, and new 

content enhancements. 

Furnace Company’s Silver 

Anniversary 

Abbott Furnace Company, St. 


International Journal of Powder Metallurgy 

Marys, Pa., celebrates 25 years in 

business with a series of special 

events. Incorporated in 1983, the 

privately held company makes 

mesh-belt and pusher sintering furnaces, 

as well as annealing, brazing, 

and glass-to-metal-sealing furnaces. 

Sales Growth at European PM 

Parts Maker 

Sales for the 2007–08 fiscal year at 

Miba AG, Laakirchen, Austria, rose 

17.5 percent to 387.7 million euros 

(about $600 million). Earnings 

before interest and taxes increased 

24.5 percent to 27.6 million euros 

(about $43 million). 

Mammoth HIP Press Installed 

The Northwest regional service center 

of Bodycote–HIP in Camas, 

Wash., has taken delivery of an 

Avure Technologies Inc. high-capacity 

hot isostatic press (HIP). It is 

identical in size to a unit installed in 

1998, with the two units ranking as 

the largest HIP presses ever built, 

Avure reports. 

New Line of Porous Metal 

Spargers 

Mott Corporation, Farmington, 

Conn., offers a new line of quickchange 

spargers that reduce the 

time to replace sparger elements in 

bioreactors and fermentors. 

The porous metal element can be 

purchased with an adapter that 

allows easy assembly to the 

mating sparger tip and easy removal 

for replacement. 

PM INDUSTRY 

NEWS IN REVIEW 

American Axle Strike Settlement 

Brings Good News for the PM 

Industry 

American Axle & Manufacturing 

Holdings, Inc. (AAM), Detroit, Mich., 

has settled the 12-week strike with 

the International UAW representing 

about 3,650 workers at five plants 

in Michigan and New York. AAM 

says it expects to have its plants 

onstream again during the week of 

May 26. 

New Bodycote Acquisitions 

Bodycote International plc in the UK 

has acquired three UK companies: 

Plasma & Thermal Coatings Ltd., 

Greenhey Engineering Services, and 

NPE Innotek Ltd. The acquired companies 

join the Metallurgical 

Coatings division of Bodycote’s 

Thermal Processing Group. 

PM2008 World Congress Draws 

Large International Audience 

Beginning with the welcoming 

reception and dinner on June 8, the 

2008 World Congress on Powder 

Metallurgy & Particulate Materials 

was attended by more than 1,600 

delegates. Powder metallurgists and 

industry executives from 40 countries 

learned about hot new PM 

developments and the latest company 

news through networking and 

attending technical sessions and the 

trade exhibition. 

The International Business 

Picture 

The presidents of MPIF, the 

European Powder Metallurgy 

Association (EPMA), and the Japan 

ijpm 

5

PM INDUSTRY NEWS IN REVIEW 

6 

Powder Metallurgy Association 

(JPMA) reviewed PM industry conditions 

in their respective regions 

at the Tuesday morning Global 

General Session of PM2008. 

Statistics they presented revealed 

that metal powder shipments 

declined in 2007 in North America 

while rising in Europe and Asia. 

SCM Enters South American 

Market 

SCM Metal Products, Inc., 

Research Triangle Park, N.C., has 

signed a joint development agreement 

with Metalpó Industria e 

Comercio Ltda., São Paulo, Brazil. 

The two companies will collaborate 

on process and product developments 

for Metalpó’s plant in 

Brazil. 

PM Automotive Applications 

Growing 

New engines and six-speed transmissions 

contain more PM parts, 

reported Mark Paullin, MPIF president, 

in his address on the state 

of the North American PM industry 

at the recent PM2008 World 

Congress. The new GM High- 

Feature 3.6L V-6 DOHC engine 

contains about 36 pounds of PM 

parts and new six-speed transmissions 

contain from 18 to 26 

pounds of PM parts. 

Miba Sales and Earnings Grow 

Miba AG, Laarkirchen, Austria, 

reports first-quarter fiscal year 

sales grew 20.2 percent to 102.2 

million euros (about $160 million). 

Earnings before interest and taxes 

jumped by 47 percent to 13.3 million 

euros (about $21 million). 

PURCHASER & PROCESSOR 

ijpm 

New Large Isostatic Press 

Avure Technologies, Kent, 

Washington, is building a very 

large hot isostatic press at the 

Bodycote plant in Surahammar, 

Sweden. The completion target is 

sometime during late 2009. 

New PM Main Bearing Cap 

Metaldyne, Plymouth, Mich., an 

ASAHI TEC company, is making a 

new powder metallurgy crankshaft 

main bearing cap for mediumduty 

diesel engines. Its customer 

is MWM International Motores in 

Brazil, a subsidiary of Navistar. 

Plansee Sales Rise 

Fiscal year 2007/2008 sales of 

Plansee Group, Reutte, Austria, 

rose 11 percent, exceeding $1 billion 

euros (about $1.56 billion). All 

three divisions—HPM, Ceratizit, 

and PMG—contributed to the 

growth, the company reports. 

Powder Metal Scrap 

(800) 313-9672 

Since 1946 

Ferrous & Non-Ferrous Metals 

Green, Sintered, Floor Sweeps, Furnace & Maintenance Scrap 

1403 Fourth St. • Kalamazoo, MI 49048 • Tel: 269-342-0183 • Fax: 269-342-0185 

Robert Lando 

E-mail: aceiron@chartermi.net 



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Education: 

Mechanical Engineer, Universidad del Bio-Bio 

(Concepción, Chile), 1970 

Industrial Administrator, Universidade de São Paulo, 

USP (São Paulo, Brazil), 1987 

Why did you study powder metallurgy/particulate 

materials? 

When I graduated in Chile in 1970, I wanted to work 

in different fields of metallurgical processing. From 

1970 to 1974 I was working with processes such as 

machining, tube and weld profiles, production 

of iron sheet, and engineering 

design. Then I moved to São Paulo, 

Brazil, and began working in the area 

of PM processing. 

When did your interest in 

engineering/science begin? 

Before finishing second grade in a 

Catholic industrial school in 1967, I 

decided to go to a university and study 

to be a mechanical engineer. My objective 

was to gain knowledge, and thereby 

improve my professional life. 

What was your first job in PM? What did you do? 

My first job in PM was with Brassinter, from 1974 

until 1977, in São Paulo. At that time this company 

was the primary PM parts manufacturer in Brazil; it 

reflected high-quality technology, equipment, and technical 

staff. I was involved in designing tools, devices, 

and equipment for the production of PM parts, ranging 

from self-lubricating bearings to gears and gerotors for 

oil pumps, multi-level structural parts, and shock 

absorbing parts for automotive and home appliances. 

Describe your career path, companies worked for, 

and responsibilities. 

At Brassinter, I started my career as a tool designer. 

In my second year I was promoted to design-area 

supervisor and the following year I became head of the 

design area. I am familiar with all types of equipment 



SPOTLIGHT ON ... 

LUIS BERNARDO ZAMBRANO MERINO, PMT 

involved in the PM process, such as compaction and 

sizing presses, continuous and walking-beam furnaces, 

machines for secondary operations, and 

machining. I had to understand all types of machines 

in order to design tooling for the production of PM 

parts. 

My second PM job was with Metalpó, in São Paulo, 

from 1977 until 2001. I was responsible for developing 

their design department, putting into practice the 

knowledge gained from my industrial experience. In 

addition to the design department, I was also manager 

of the tool room and engineering sector. 

After an interrupted period from 1992 

to 1995, I worked as a factory 1 coordinator, 

manufacturing complex structural 

parts. 

From 2001 until the present time, 

I’ve worked as technical director, 

Termosinter, a new company in Brazil. 

The company develops PM parts, and 

designs and builds its own equipment, 

presses, and furnaces. 

What gives you the most satisfaction 

in your career? 

I enjoy working on special PM processes because 

they always relate to improving new PM parts, 

researching better process materials and applications. 

I also enjoy sharing my knowledge with coworkers and 

helping customers and suppliers to identify the best 

possible product for their needs. 

The greatest satisfaction in my career has been the 

opportunity to, and capability of, improving the technology 

in the companies I have worked for, after my 

Technical Director 

Termosinter Ind. e Com. Ltda. 

Milton José Nunes Fernandes, 600 

Chacara Santa Maria 

Guaratinguetá 

São Paulo CEP 12500-971 Brazil 

Phone: 012 3122 1146 

Fax: 012 3122 1146 

E-mail: luzammer@ig.com.br 

9

SPOTLIGHT ON ...LUIS BERNARDO ZAMBRANO MERINO, PMT 

10 

first experience with Brassinter. This company 

provided an excellent background in PM, and 

from that time on I have striven to continue to 

improve my knowledge in order to stay up-to-date 

with PM developments. I have worked in most 

areas of PM processing, from tool design, product 

engineering, and production to maintenance and 

technical support. 

List your MPIF/APMI activities. 

I have been a member of APMI since 2000, 

when I obtained Level I PMT certification. I have 

attended many conferences and seminars, and 

visited PM companies in Brazil, Spain, and the 

U.S., for the purpose of technology transfer. 

What major changes/trend(s) in the PM 

industry have you seen? 

Since 1974, I have seen interesting and positive 

trends in all activities involved in PM technology, 

primarily in relation to raw materials and process 

evolution in order to increase density and the 

mechanical properties of PM parts. This has 

resulted in tool materials with improved properties 

to enable higher densities, new compaction 

presses capable of more rapid production of parts 

with enhanced density distributions, process stability, 

and sintering furnaces capable of handling 

sinter-hardening steels. In the engineering field, 

CAD, CAE and CAM have replaced tedious manual 

design and calculation. 

Why did you choose to pursue PMT certification? 

The pursuit of PMT certification in 2000 was, to 

me, confirmation of the background I obtained 

during my years involved with the PM process. 

How have you benefited from PMT certification 

in your career? 

Personally, I am now recognized at seminars, 

conferences, and customer technical meetings. I 

feel confident as a PM specialist and, therefore, 

the pursuit of PMT certification was a sound 

benchmark in my career. 

What are your current interests, hobbies, and 

activities outside of work? 

Because I live in a small city, Guaratinguetá- 

São Paulo, I can spend time with my family, and 

visit nearby cities. Every Sunday morning I play 

soccer with my grandson Luis Gustavo, who is 18 

years old, at a sports club in our neighborhood. ijpm 



HARB S. NAYAR, FAPMI* 

Q 

How can powder metallurgy (PM) parts 

makers reduce costs and increase 

productivity to offset rising energy and 

raw materials costs? 

This is an important question for any industry, 

A but critical for the well-established conventional 

PM parts industry. 

I will answer the question in the form of a very 

simple thought process or step-by-step methodology 

that can be applied to any existing PM parts manufacturing 

plant. The process applies only to the production 

unit or building of any PM parts company. 

For purposes of explanation, we will assume that the 

existing plant is small with bare minimums: building 

or manufacturing space, a single press and a single 

sintering furnace, and quality control (QC) equipment 

as capital items. The operation produces a variety 

of single-press/single-sinter iron-base PM parts 

requiring no secondary operations and the plant 

uses pre-blended powders. Another assumption is 

that the company’s sales department has no problem 

getting orders to keep the plant operating 24/7. 

The simple thought process includes the following 

key phrases and words: 

• Walkthru 

• Snapshot 

• Utilization factor 

• Standardized yardsticks such as cost per unit 

weight (not cost per piece) 

• Bottlenecks 

The key to this thought process is “Let us take a 

walkthru” the plant or a single piece of equipment 

such as a press or furnace, or a process such as 

compacting or sintering. While the “walkthru” concept 

is simple and easy to follow, its full and diligent 

practice can be potentially effective in increasing 

productivity (weight of PM parts shipped per month 

or per year) in a given manufacturing plant and 

decreasing total manufacturing cost per unit weight 

of shipped PM parts. 

There are a minimum of two levels of walk, namely 

fast and slow. If need be, a third level walk (very 



CONSULTANTS’ 

CORNER 

slow) can be carried out 

to fine tune productivity 

in a given plant. Each 

level will have a starting 

point with an imaginary 

guard and an end point 

with another imaginary 

guard. 

In order to realize the 

benefits of the “walkthru” thought process, it is 

essential to take a 12-month “snapshot” (Step 1) of 

the PM manufacturing plant. One year is either the 

previous calendar year or the year just prior to the 

application of the “walkthru” process. This year-long 

“snapshot” provides reference points or benchmarks 

for comparison with future performance of the plant. 

STEP 1: One-Year “Snapshot” of the Plant 

Obtain the following information related to manufacturing 

from the purchasing and financial departments 

for the past 12-month period: 

• Total powder (by weight) received into the plant 

and dollars 

• Total labor (operators, supervisors, and managers) 

related to the plant in terms of employeehours 

and dollars 

• Total energy (electricity and gas) used by the 

plant in units and dollars 

• Total atmosphere (each type) used in volume 

and dollars 

• Purchase of major replacement items such as 

dies, belts, muffles, and heating elements in 

actual number and dollars for each item 

• Purchase of all other replacement items brought 

into the plant in terms of total combined dollars 

• Depreciation of major capital units such as the 

building, presses, furnaces, and QC equipment 

in terms of dollars for each type 

Ask the shipping department to provide the total 

amount of sintered product (by weight) shipped to 

customers during the same 12-month period. 

Using the preceding information received from the 

*President, TAT Technologies, Inc., P.O. Box 1279, Summit, New Jersey 07902-1279; Phone: 908-391-9478; E-mail: 

harb.nayar@tat-tech.com 

11

CONSULTANTS’ CORNER 

12 

various departments, the following benchmarks can 

be calculated: 

Benchmark 1. Manufacturing cost per unit 

weight of shipped parts: Total weight shipped during 

the year divided by total of all the cited costs 

combined. 

Benchmark 2. Material utilization factor: Total 

PM parts shipped by weight divided by the total 

weight of powder received. 

Benchmark 3. Energy used per unit weight of 

shipped PM parts both in terms of Kw and dollars. 

Benchmark 4. Atmosphere used per unit weight of 

shipped parts in terms of volume and dollars. 

Benchmark 5. All labor related to manufacturing 

per unit weight of PM parts shipped both in terms of 

employee-hours and dollars. 

Benchmark 6. Purchased parts in each of the 

major replacement items in terms of dollars per unit 

weight of PM parts shipped. 

Benchmark 7. Depreciation cost per unit weight of 

shipped PM parts for each of the major capital units 

such as presses, furnaces, and the building. 

These seven calculated pieces of information are 

the benchmarks or reference points. By applying the 

“walkthru” thought process (steps 2 to 5) in a systematic, 

speedy and diligent manner, these calculated 

costs and units can be significantly improved—in 

my opinion by up to about 30% for each of the seven. 

STEP 2: Fast Walk 

The fast walk with the product is from point A (on 

one side of the plant where powder is received) to 

point B (on the other side of the plant), where finished 

PM parts are ready for shipment to customers. 

In walking from point A to point B, we break down 

the distance between points A and B into segments 

or departments. In our example of the plant, we 

break it down into three departments. Department 

#1 is compacting, Department #2 is sintering, and 

Department # 3 is packaging/shipping. 

We now assign an imaginary guard at the start of 

each of the three departments. The duties of the 

guard at the start of each department are: 

• Material Utilization (MU) Factor: Check the 

quality of the material (powder, green parts, or 

sintered parts) entering the guard’s department. 

Material that meets specifications is allowed to 

enter the department but the balance is rejected. 

The guard records the amount by weight 

that is allowed to enter the guard’s assigned 

department, compared with what was consid- 

ered for entry. The ratio of the two numbers is 

called the Material Utilization (MU) factor for 

that department. For the compacting department 

it is MU c . A value of 1 is ideal; a value

2009 International Conference 

on Powder Metallurgy & 

Particulate Materials 

June 28–July 1, The Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas 

• International Technical Program 

• Worldwide Trade Exhibition 

• Special Events 

For complete program and registration 

information contact: 

INTERNATIONAL 

METAL POWDER INDUSTRIES FEDERATION 

APMI INTERNATIONAL 

105 College Road East 

Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA 

Tel: 609-452-7700 ~ Fax: 609-987-8523 

www.mpif.org

CONSULTANTS’ CORNER 

14 

all the options available, both within and outside the 

company. Using current technologies, throughput in 

an existing furnace can be improved by up to 50%. 

This helps significantly in improving all the benchmarks 

cited in Step 1. 

STEP 4: Personnel Training 

In order to make significant productivity increases 

in manufacturing PM parts, it is desirable that all 

manufacturing personnel be trained in all aspects of 

PM including powder characteristics, blending, compacting, 

and sintering. In my opinion this is critical, 

and will go a long way towards continuous improvements 

in productivity, quality, and cost per unit 

weight of shipped PM parts. 

STEP 5: Upgrading Operating Practices 

As we move through Steps 2, 3, and 4, it is also 

highly desirable to upgrade current operating practices. 

These include loading and unloading of parts, 

process control, monitoring and controlling key 

parameters, belt and muffle designs, and maintenance 

policies. 

STEP 6: Repeat Step 1 

After Steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 have been substantially 

accomplished, Step 1 should be repeated, hopefully 

within 6 to 12 months from the start. We should see 

significant improvements (from 20% to 50%) in productivity 

and the seven benchmarks, depending 

upon the benchmark. 

STEP 7: Repeat Entire Process 

Repeat Steps 2 through 6 later in order to further 

continuously improve the seven benchmarks. This 

will ensure long-term survival, a competitive edge, 

growth, and profitability in the manufacture of PM 

parts. ijpm 

Readers are invited to send in questions for future issues. Submit your 

questions to: Consultants’ Corner, APMI International, 105 College Road East, 

Princeton, NJ 08540-6692; Fax (609) 987-8523; E-mail: dschember@mpif.org 

ijpm 



INTERNATIONAL 

PAUL BEISS 

Paul has distinguished 

himself as a leader in PM 

for more than 30 years. 

He is recognized internationally 

for his attention to 

detail and his analysis of 

issues based on sound 

technical and scientific principles. As Professor in 

Materials Applications in Mechanical Engineering, 

RWTH Aachen University, his current teaching is 

supported by his strong academic achievements 

and the experience that he gained in the PM 

industry while working in various positions at 

Sintermetallwerk Krebsoge for nearly 15 years. Paul 

received his Dipl.-Ing. and PhD in Production 

Engineering from RWTH Aachen University. A 

member of APMI International for over 20 years, 

Paul is an active member of the APMI International 

Liaison Committee. He organizes two annual 

national seminars, “Introduction to Powder 

Metallurgy” in Aachen on behalf of DGM (German 

Society for Materials) and “Materials and Processes 

for Net or Near-Net Shape Structural Parts” on 

behalf of VDI (Association of German Engineers). 

He has participated on many technical program 

committees for German national, EPMA, and MPIF 

PM conferences. Paul has authored/co-authored 

150 PM-related publications in journals and conference 

proceedings, and two books. He received the 

Skaupy Award from the German national Joint 

Committee for Powder Metallurgy and the Ivor 

Jenkins Award of the British Institute of Materials, 

Minerals and Mining. 



2008 

FELLOW AWARD 

RECIPIENTS 

A prestigious lifetime award recognizing 

APMI International members for their significant 

contributions to the society and their high level 

of expertise in the science, technology, practice, 

or business of the PM industry 

PIERRE 

TAUBENBLAT 

Pierre has made important 

contributions and has 

established an international 

reputation in the 

field of PM, wrought products, 

and process metallurgy. 

With over 50 years 

of PM experience focused on copper, iron, and 

precious metals, he has been involved in research, 

process and product development, design, 

manufacturing and production, education/teaching, 

and many other areas of the PM industry. He 

received a BS Electrochemical and Electrometallurgical 

Engineering from Grenoble University, 

an MA Industrial Management from Polytechnic 

University, and an MS Ceramic Engineering from 

Rutgers University. He is an Adjunct Professor at 

Middlesex College, New Jersey. He enjoyed a 

30-plus-year career at AMAX before departing as 

president of the Base-Metals Research & 

Development Division. As president of Promet 

Associates, Pierre continues to extend his 40-plus 

years of active APMI membership as chairman of 

the APMI Editorial Review Committee, as well as 

having served as chairman of the Metro New York 

Chapter of APMI. He was the chairman of the 1976 

MPIF International Powder Metallurgy Conference, 

and is past chairman of the MPIF Technical Board 

and the MPPA Standards Committee. Pierre holds 

four patents including new classes of infiltrants, 

high-strength copper-based materials, and smelting 

and refining of metallurgical dusts. He has 

published over 40 articles and technical papers and 

has edited four books. In 1985 Pierre received the 

MPIF Distinguished Service to Powder Metallurgy 

Award and in 1997 he was accepted as an ASM 

International Fellow. 

15

16 

OUTSTANDING 

POSTER AWARDS 

Presented at the PM2008 World Congress in Washington, D.C. 





OUTSTANDING POSTER AWARDS 

17


18 






19

KEMPTON H. ROLL 

POWDER METALLURGY 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 

20 

The new Kempton H. Roll Powder Metallurgy (PM) Lifetime Achievement Award was 

recently established by the Board of Governors of the Metal Powder Industries Federation 

(MPIF) to recognize individuals with outstanding accomplishments and achievements 

who have devoted their careers and a lifetime of involvement in the field of powder 

metallurgy and related technologies. It honors the contributions of Kempton H. Roll, 

whose vision led to the establishment of MPIF as its founding executive director. 

Roll’s achievements made a significant impact on the growth of the PM industry and 

technology. He participated in the presentation of the award. 

Arlan J. Clayton Recognized for Lifetime Achievements 

Arlan J. Clayton received the new Kempton H. 

Roll Powder Metallurgy (PM) Lifetime 

Achievement Award during the opening 

general session at the 2008 World Congress 

on Powder Metallurgy & Particulate Materials. 

Clayton’s career spanned 40 years in the 

PM industry before he retired as president 

of FloMet LLC, DeLand, Florida, in 2006. 

He held management and CEO positions in 

companies manufacturing refractory metals, 

PM parts, and metal injection molded parts. 

He served as chairman of the MPIF Industry 

Development Board, president of the Powder 

Metallurgy Parts Association, and president 

of MPIF, as well as president of the Center 

for Powder Metallurgy Technology (CPMT). 

In 1999 he donated $1 million to CPMT, 

establishing the Clayton Family Fund to 

provide annual grants for research and 

scholarships. He received the MPIF 

Distinguished Service to PM Award in 1991. 

This award was presented at the PM2008 World Congress in Washington, D.C. 



2008 PM DESIGN 

EXCELLENCE AWARDS 

COMPETITION WINNERS 

Peter K. Johnson* 

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS 

The five parts selected as the Grand Prize winners are shown in 

Figure 1. 

Figure 1. Grand Prize winners. 



DESIGN 

EXCELLENCE 

AWARD WINNERS 

Winners of the 2008 PM 

Design Excellence Awards 

Competition, sponsored by 

the Metal Powder Industries 

Federation (MPIF), were 

announced at the PM2008 

World Congress. Receiving 

Grand Prizes and Awards 

of Distinction, the winning 

parts are outstanding examples 

of powder metallurgy’s 

(PM) precision, innovative 

design ability, superior 

performance, sustainable 

technology, and cost 

savings. High-density gear 

rolling, warm compaction, 

and metal injection molding 

(MIM) are some of the more 

innovative techniques and 

technologies used to produce 

the parts. 

The awards were presented 

at the PM2008 World 

Congress in Washington, 

D.C. 

* Contributing Editor, International Journal of Powder Metallurgy, APMI International, 105 College Road East, Princeton, New Jersey 08501-6692, 

USA; E-mail: pjohnson@mpif.org 

21

2008 PM DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARDS COMPETITION WINNERS 

22 

PMG Füssen GmbH, Füssen, Germany, and its 

customer Schaeffler Group Automotive, 

Hirschaid, Germany, won the Grand Prize in the 

Automotive—Engine category for a stator (Figure 

2) used in a variable valve timing (VVT) system in 

a 1.4 L engine. Made from a modified iron–copper 

PM material, the complex part is formed to a density 

of 7.0 g/cm 3 . The stator, featuring five intricate 

center holes, is a one-piece design that 

replaced two parts. It is compacted on a 450 mt 

press with three upper and two lower tooling levels. 

Tight tolerances help to minimize any internal 

oil leakage between the adjoining pressurized 

chambers. The PM stator helps reduce fuel consumption 

and the formation of exhaust gases, as 

well as improving engine performance, especially 

torque at low rotational speeds. It has two functions: 

a spline for the timing-belt pulley and the 

VVT housing. The PM process offered substantial 

cost savings despite finishing operations such as 

sizing, machining, deburring, and steam treating. 

Burgess-Norton Mfg. Company, Geneva, 

Illinois, and its customer, Means Industries, 

Saginaw, Michigan, won the Grand Prize in the 

Automotive—Transmission category for a notch/ 

backing plate and a pocket plate (Figure 3) used in 

a mechanical diode (MD) one-way clutch for a sixspeed 

automatic transmission. Made from sinterhardened 

PM steel, the notch/backing plate weighs 

840 g (1.85 lb.) and the pocket plate, 1,152 g (2.54 

lb.). The PM plates are made to a near-net shape 

and assembled with steel struts, coil springs, and a 

snap ring, to form the one-way clutch. Both parts 

are made to a density of 6.7 g/cm 3 . The 

notch/backing plate has a tensile strength of 520 

MPa (75,400 psi), and the pocket plate a tensile 

strength of 620 MPa (90,000 psi). By choosing the 

PM planar ratcheting MD design, designers were 

able to eliminate a backing plate and combine a 

costly splined sleeve into one PM part. The result 

was superior precision and a 70 percent cost savings 

over wrought steel parts. Both parts are vital 

to the MD clutch design by permitting drive torque 

to be applied to the transmission in second and 

sixth gears as well as torque transfer in reverse 

gear. It is estimated conservatively that 1.25 million 

assemblies will be produced annually, translating 

to 2.5 million PM parts. 

Mitsubishi Materials PMG Corporation, 

Tokyo, Japan, and its customer Fuji Kiko Co. 

Ltd., Shizuoka, Japan, won the Grand Prize in 

the Automotive—Chassis category for a high- 

Figure 2. VVT stator 

Figure 3. Notch/backing plate and pocket plate 

strength gear set (Figure 4) used in a new tilting 

and telescopic steering column. The gear set consists 

of a tooth lock and two cams. Made from diffusion-alloyed 

PM steel, the parts have a density 



Figure 4. High-strength gear set 

>7.05 g/cm 3 and a tensile strength >1,100 MPa 

(160,000 psi), 57 HRA apparent hardness, and 

an unnotched Charpy impact strength >14J (10·3 

ft.·lb.). Replacing forged and machined parts, PM 

offered substantial cost savings with a net-shape 

design that eliminated the need for machining. 

Capstan Atlantic, Wrentham, Massachusetts, 

captured the Grand Prize in the Hardware/ 




Figure 5. Business machine gear set 

Appliances category for a PM steel gear set (Figure 

5) used in a high-volume business machine printer. 

The gear is roll densified to a surface density of 

7.8 g/cm 3 . It has an American Gear Manufacturers 

Association (AGMA) quality of precision level 10 

and the pinion, an AGMA precision level of eight. 

The core density of the gear and pinion is 

7.3 g/cm 3 . The gear-tooth-surface fatigue resist- 

23


24 

Figure 6. Stainless steel articulation gear 

ance equals that of a wrought steel 8620 carburized 

gear. The apparent hardness is >40 HRC and 

the microindentation hardness is 60 HRC. The 

part, which has opposing helix angles, is formed to 

net shape, except for hard turning the datum journals. 

Single pressed, the PM gear replaced two 

machined gears at a cost savings of >40 percent. 

Parmatech Corporation, Petaluma, California, 

won the Grand Prize in the Medical/Dental category 

for a 17-4 PH stainless steel articulation gear 

(Figure 6) used in a surgical stapling device. It 

functions as the drive and locking mechanism to 

articulate the head of the device at different 

angles. Made by MIM to a density >7.65 g/cm 3 , 

the part has an ultimate tensile strength of 900 

MPa (130,500 psi), a yield strength of 730 MPa 

(106,000 psi), and a 25 HRC hardness. The complex 

MIM design is formed to net shape and 

requires no finishing operations. It has tight tolerances 

and provided a 70 percent cost savings, 

compared with machining the gear from bar stock. 

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION 

Four parts were selected for Awards of 

Distinction, Figure 7. 

Cloyes Gear & Products Inc., Paris, Arkansas, 

received the Award of Distinction in the 

Automotive—Engine category for PM low-alloy 

steel intake and exhaust sprockets (Figure 8) 

used in a variable valve timing (VVT) system in a 

high-performance, double-overhead cam V-6 

engine. Using warm compaction, the sprockets 

are formed to a density of 7.25 g/cm 3 . The powder 

and tooling temperature is controlled to within 

2.8°C (5°F). The 7.7 mm (0.3 in.) fine-pitch 

inverted sprocket teeth are compacted to a nearnet 

shape. The complex design provides a multifunction 

part, namely, a high-strength timing 

sprocket that performs cam-phasing functions. 

The teeth are induction heat treated and tempered 

to a 70 HRA typical apparent hardness. The 

overall length, slot width, and minor diameter are 

ground to tolerances of .012 mm (0.00047 in.). 

Each sprocket has a typical tensile strength of 

1,169 MPa (170,000 psi), a 358 MPa (52,000 psi) 

fatigue limit, and a compressive strength of 1,262 

MPa (183,000 psi). 

Figure 7. Award of Distinction winners 



Figure 8. VVT low-alloy steel intake and exhaust sprockets 




Figure 9. Stainless steel bobbins 

ASCO Sintering Company, Commerce, 

California, and its customer Performance 

Friction Corporation, Clover, South Carolina, 

won the Award of Distinction in the Automotive— 

Chassis category for a series of 316 stainless steel 

bobbins (Figure 9) used in a new braking system 

for race cars and high-performance vehicles. The 

25


26 

two-level part is available in 14 variations with 

eight or more bobbins used in a single brake rotor 

assembly. The new bobbin design aids in tripling 

the brake-rotor fatigue life, reducing drag at elevated 

temperatures, as well as reducing vibration 

and temperature. PM was chosen over a wrought 

machined design. The parts are made to a density 

of 7.0 g/cm 3 and have a tensile strength of 480 

MPa (70,000 psi), a yield strength of 310 MPa 

(45,000 psi), 130 MPa (19,000 psi) fatigue 

Figure 10. 17-4 PH stainless steel lock-cylinder parts 

Figure 11. Hearing aid receiver cans 

strength, 13 percent elongation, 65 J (48 ft.·lb.) 

impact strength, and HRB 65 hardness. 

Kinetics Climax, Inc., Wilsonville, Oregon, 

won the Award of Distinction in the Hardware/ 

Appliances category for three 17-4 PH stainless 

steel lock-cylinder parts (Figure 10) made by MIM 

for Black & Decker Hardware and Home 

Improvement, Lake Forest, California. The MIM 

parts (a locking bar, pin, and rack) operate in the 

Kwikset SmartKey lock cylinder, which contains 

one locking bar, five pins, and five racks, totaling 

11 MIM parts. The high-precision parts have a 

typical density of 7.7 g/cm 3 , a tensile strength of 

900 MPa (130,500 psi), and a yield strength of 

730 MPa (106,000 psi). The complex PM design 

provides significant cost savings and allows the 

consumer to re-key the lock easily, without 

removing it or getting professional help. 

FloMet LLC, Deland, Florida, and its customer, 

Starkey Laboratories, Inc., Eden Prairie, 

Minnesota, won the Award of Distinction in the 

Electrical/Electronic Components category for a 

hearing aid receiver can (Figure 11) made by MIM. 

The thin-walled part is made from a 

nickel–iron–molybdenum alloy that provides the 

magnetic shunt effect required in the hearing aid 

to separate the internal receiver signal from the 

telecoil signal. The part was previously deep 

drawn and required several interim annealing 

steps to achieve the necessary depth, in addition 

to forming the internal undercuts. Choosing the 

MIM manufacturing process provided a 50 percent 

cost savings over deep drawing as well as 

improved performance. FloMet performs a special 

sizing/coining operation to maintain tolerances 

on the OD and ID. 

The awards were presented during the PM2008 

World Congress held in Washington, D.C., June 

8–12, sponsored by MPIF and APMI. Past winners 

of the MPIF PM Design Excellence Awards 

Competition can be viewed by visiting 

www.mpif.org. 



CONSOLIDATION OF 

ALUMINUM POWDER 

DURING EXTRUSION 

Vikram V. Dabhade*, Panya Kansuwan** and Wojciech Z. Misiolek*** 

INTRODUCTION 

Due to their attractive physical and mechanical properties, aluminum 

powder metallurgy (PM) components have found numerous 

applications in automotive, aerospace, power tools, and appliances, 

and as structural elements. Aluminum PM components exhibit low 

density, good corrosion resistance, high thermal and electrical conductivity, 

and excellent machinability, and respond well to several finishing 

processes. In addition they offer the ability to produce complex netor 

near-net-shape parts, thereby eliminating or reducing the operational 

and capital costs associated with intricate machining operations.1,2 

The mechanical properties of aluminum alloys can be 

significantly improved by forming aluminum matrix composites, 

including a new generation of nanocomposites.3,4 

PM compacts are subjected to secondary processing techniques 

such as extrusion, rolling, and forging to provide the desired shape to 

the product, reduce the level of porosity (enhance density), and modify 

the microstructure to improve mechanical properties. These secondary 

operations are usually perfromed after sintering as the component 

achieves sufficient strength to withstand the forming operations.5,6 

Although sintering has the beneficial role of imparting strength and 

improving density, it leads to grain growth (with an attendant reduction 

in mechanical properties), and the formation of oxides or other 

undesired products via reaction with the sintering atmosphere (especially 

for highly reactive materials). Sintering also adds to the manufacturing 

cost. 

Of the secondary forming operations applied to PM components, 

extrusion is particularly attractive as the three principle stresses in the 

deformation zone are compressive6 and the extrusion parameters can 

be adjusted to obtain the desired structure.7 Powder extrusion can be 

used to make useful shapes such as seamless tubes, wires, and complex 

solid and hollow sections from materials that would be difficult (or 

even impossible) to process by casting or other metalworking operations. 

The extrusion process also offers the ability to form wrought 

structures from powders without the need for sintering. Additionally, 

reduced extrusion pressures and a wider range of temperature and 



RESEARCH & 

DEVELOPMENT 

The present investigation 

focuses on the consolidation 

of aluminum powder by 

extrusion. Three grades of 

aluminum powder with 

average particle sizes of 

365 µm, 135 µm, and 

89 µm were precompacted 

to ~73% of their pore-free 

density. The precompacted 

billets were extruded at an 

extrusion ratio of 2.1 for 

different ram displacements 

in the range of 12%–99% 

of the initial billet length. 

The consolidation behavior 

of each grade of powder 

was determined from 

two-dimensional (2D) and 

three-dimensional (3D) 

density/porosity contour 

maps and from hardness 

levels following extrusion. 

*Post Doctoral Research Associate, ***Loewy Professor of Materials Forming and Processing, Institute for Metal Forming, Lehigh University, 

5 E. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA; E-mail: wzm2@lehigh.edu, **Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand 

27

CONSOLIDATION OF ALUMINUM POWDER DURING EXTRUSION 

28 

ram velocity are possible in powder extrusion, 

compared with those in the extrusion of cast billets. 

Powder extrusion has been used in the processing 

of composite materials, superalloys, 

dispersion-strengthened materials, ferrous alloys, 

and light metals.8 

Ductile metal powders such as aluminum and 

copper can be cold consolidated to their pore-free 

density by extrusion without the need for sintering 

if plastic deformation follows the consolidation 

stage.9 This leads to the retention of the 

microstructure of the powder particles, and 

achieves the desired density and mechanical properties. 

This is particularly useful in the case of aluminum 

alloys in which sintering is difficult due to 

the presence of an oxide layer on the powder particle 

surfaces and the necessity to control dew point 

during sintering.10 The extrusion of aluminum 

powders also leads to shear deformation which, in 

combination with pressure, ruptures the oxide film 

on the particle surfaces and facilitates metallurgical 

contact between the particles and enhanced 

mechanical interlocking of the particles.8 

Powder extrusion has been used to consolidate/improve 

the mechanical properties of aluminum 

powders,7 aluminum alloy powders,11 and 

aluminum particulate composites.12,13 In the 

present investigation the effects of aluminum particle 

size, shape, and ram displacement on densification 

of the precompacted billet and extrudate 

has been investigated. The objective was to better 

understand the densification behavior of aluminum 

powders in extrusion as a precursor to 

nanocomposite processing. 

EXPERIMENTAL 

Powder Characterization 

Air-atomized aluminum powders of three different 

grades (AM 603, AM 605, and AM 625) 

obtained from AMPAL Inc. were used in the present 

investigation. The chemical analyses of the 

three powder grades, as obtained from the supplier, 

are shown in Table I. These analyses were 

TABLE I. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF POWDERS (w/o) 

Powder Other Metallics 

Grade Al Fe Si 

AM 603 99.7 min* 0.13 0.08 Cr

stearate was used as a die-wall lubricant, but the 

aluminum powder per se was not lubricated. 

Powder Extrusion 

Extrusion tests were carried out on the 15.97 

mm dia. precompacted aluminum powder billets 

using a die with an orifice dia. of 11.07 mm, corresponding 

to an extrusion ratio of 2.1. Prior to 

extrusion the powder billets were compacted in a 

die, which later was used as a container during 

the extrusion process. This low extrusion ratio 

was chosen to permit analysis of the densification 

of the powder billets during extrusion as a function 

of ram displacement and is much lower than 

the recommended values of 9 or higher for complete 

densification of spherical powders.8 

Extrusion was carried out at room temperature 

(25°C) at an extrusion (ram) speed of 30 mm/min. 

The die at the end of the extrusion container was 

replaced with a flat plate assembly which allowed 

the extrusion container to be used as a compaction 

die. 

The interparticle friction within the powder billet 

depends on particle size, particle shape, and 

surface texture. Therefore, it is important to 

determine at which point billet densification is 

complete for the different powder morphologies. 

Since the precompacted billets were uniaxially 

compacted in the extrusion container, they exhibited 

a region of high density (low porosity) at the 

ram end (at which the pressure was applied), 

while the other end of the billet exhibited a region 

of lower density (higher porosity). As a result, the 

end of the billet with lower density (higher porosity) 

was towards the extrusion die. The extrusion 

Figure 2. Extent of extrusion with corresponding % ram displacement of initial 

billet length 




tests were preformed with flat-face dies (halfincluded 

angle of 90°) with a round die orifice and 

a 3 mm-long bearing length. 

Extrusion tests were performed on a 3 MN vertical 

hydraulic press. The extrusion process was 

arrested at ram positions of 12%, 23%, 33%, 44%, 

58%, 70%, 83%, and 99% of the initial billet 

length from the end surface of the precompacted 

billets (40 mm). The extent of extrusion, with 

respect to ram displacement, is shown schematically 

in Figure 2. Extrusion ram pressure and 

ram displacement data were collected directly 

from the load cell and displacement sensors. The 

Figure 3. Extrusion pressure vs. ram displacement curves as a function of ram 

displacement. Aluminum powder grade AM 603 



29




30 

resulting curves are shown in Figures 3–5 for the 

three powder grades. 

Porosity and Hardness 

For porosity and hardness measurements 

mounted samples were cut longitudinally (Figure 

6) and polished. 

Porosity was measured by means of an image 

analyzer using LECO software with a Hitachi 

camera. Area measurements were an average of 

1,640 µm × 1,300 µm per measurement. Porosity 

measurements were carried out on the precompacted 

billets and the partially extruded billets 

(12%, 23%, and 33% ram displacement) for the 

Figure 6. Mounted samples for porosity and hardness distribution measurements 

three grades of powder. This was done to determine 

the level of densification of the billets within 

the extrusion container prior to extrusion (12% 

and 23% ram displacement) and after extrusion 

(33% ram displacement). Porosity measurements 

were also carried out on the extrudates (99% ram 

displacement) for the three powder grades. 

Because of the symmetry of the billets, porosity 

measurements were performed on one half of the 

longitudinal cross section. In the case of the 

extrudate samples, measurements were carried 

out on the entire sample. Porosity distributions 

for the precompacted powder billets and the partially 

extruded billets are shown in Figures 7–9, 

(a) 

(b) 

Figure 7. Porosity profiles of precompacted billet as a function of ram displacement: 

(a) 2D and (b) 3D. Aluminum powder grade AM 603 



(a) 

(b) 

while those of the extrudates are shown in Figure 

10. Figures 7(a)–9(a) show the 2D porosity distributions 

while Figures 7(b)–9(b) show the 3D 

porosity distributions. The levels of porosity are 

presented as color/scale bars on the right-hand 

side of the respective figures. Red represents 

regions of high porosity (low density) while blue 

represents regions of low porosity (high density). 

Microindentation hardness was measured 

using a Knoop indentor in accordance with ASTM 

E 384.14 Tests were carried out on a LECO microhardness 

system with a load of 300 g and a dwell 

time of 15 s. Measurements were taken along the 

center line of the longitudinal section from the die 

Figure 8. Porosity profiles of precompacted billet as a function of ram 

displacement: (a) 2D and (b) 3D. Aluminum powder grade AM 605 




end of the extrudates (99% ram displacement) for 

the three powder grades. The variation of microindentation 

hardness along the extrudate is shown 

in Figure 11. 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

Powder Characterization 

The three powder grades exhibited a purity of 

approximately 99.7 w/o, Table I. The major impurity 

elements present were iron and silicon while 

the minor impurity elements were boron, cadmium, 

chromium, copper, lead, manganese, nickel, 

titanium, and vanadium. The AM 603, AM 605, 

and AM 625 powder grades had average particle 

(a) 

(b) 

Figure 9. Porosity profiles of precompacted billet as a function of ram displacement: 

(a) 2D and (b) 3D. Aluminum powder grade AM 625 

31


Figure 10. Porosity profiles of extrudates 

Figure 11. Microindentation hardness profiles of extrudates 

32 

sizes of 365 µm, 135 µm, and 89 µm, respectively; 

on a relative scale, these correspond to coarse, 

medium, and fine particle sizes. 

The optical micrographs of the three powder 

grades confirmed the presence of both rounded 

and elongated morphologies, with porosity in 

some of the powders. Notwithstanding the variation 

in average particle size of the three powder 

grades, the grain sizes were approximately the 

same. The microstructure was characteristic of a 

cast structure with longitudinal (dendritic) and 

equiaxed grains. 

The flow rate, as measured using a Hall flow 

meter, indicated no flow for the AM 603 and AM 

605 grade powders, while the AM 625 powder 

grade exhibited a flow rate of 49 s/50 g. In general, 

finer particles exhibit lower flow rates as compared 

with coarser particles due to interparticle 

friction. However, in the present case the opposite 

was observed, which suggests that another factor 

is playing a dominant role. The three powder 

grades exhibited both rounded and elongated particles. 

A detailed measurement of particle shape 

from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the 

powders confirmed a larger number of elongated 

particles in AM 603 and AM 605 compared with 

AM 625. The AM 603, AM 605, and AM 625 powder 

grades exhibited approximately 49%, 36%, 

and 27% elongated particles (remainder rounded 

particles). The non-flowing characteristic of the 

AM 603 and AM 605 powder grades is attributed 

to the larger number of elongated particles while 

the flow of the AM 625 powder is due to the lower 

number of elongated particles (higher number of 

rounded particles). 

Powder Extrusion 

Figure 2 shows a sequence of the partially 

extruded samples. It was observed that extrusion 

started between 23% and 33% of the ram displacement. 

Ram displacements

ends with a drop in the ram pressure as the 

extrusion process is terminated at a particular 

ram displacement. 

The second stage leads to densification of the 

precompacted billet due to localized plastic deformation 

in the extrusion container and to die constraint. 

Plastic deformation of the particles may 

be inferred from the distribution of porosity in the 

billets, as shown in Figures 7–9. Factors such as 

die-wall friction, interparticle friction, and boundary 

constraint are responsible for densification. 

During compaction the particles respond to the 

applied stress in the same way as do bulk metal 

samples under compressive stress. Figures 7–9 

show the distribution of pores in the precompacted 

billet, and in the precompacted billet after 

12%, 23% and 33% ram displacement for the AM 

603, AM605, and AM 625 grades of powder, 

respectively. Since all the billets were compacted 

to an initial pore-free density ~73%, they exhibited 

similar levels of porosity. The billets also 

showed a higher density (lower porosity) at the 

ram end due to uniaxial compaction, as explained 

previously. The level of porosity in the three powder 

grades decreased with ram displacement. As 

shown in Figure 2, extrusion commenced between 

23% and 33% ram displacement. For 33% ram 

displacement, the billet exhibited a pore-free 

microstructure while for 23% ram displacement, 

the billet exhibited traces of porosity. This clearly 

indicates that extrusion commences only after the 

precompacted powder billet has reached its porefree 

density within the constraint of the extrusion 

die, depending on the extrusion ratio. 

There is a small volume of material at the front 

end which is not fully consolidated during extrusion. 

This is true for all three powder grades, as 

shown in Figure 10. The breakthrough pressure 

can be determined from the extrusion curves and 

was evaluated for the samples extruded at 33% 

ram displacement and above; for these ram displacements, 

billet flow was observed through the 

die as explained previously. The average breakthrough 

pressures for the AM603, AM605, and 

AM625 powder grades were 652 MPa, 614 MPa, 

and 601 MPa, respectively. The highest value was 

achieved for the coarser particle size (AM 603) followed 

by AM 605 and AM 625 which had the finer 

particle sizes. According to current understanding 

of the compaction process, the fine particles 

should result in the highest breakthrough pressure 

due to high interparticle friction. The reverse 




33


34 

Figure 12. Representative micrographs at various locations in precompacted billet ((a), (b), and (c)), partially extrudated billet ((d), (e), and (f)) 

and extrudate (g). AM 605 grade aluminum powder; extrusion ratio 12.25. SEM/secondary electron images 

relationship observed can be explained by the fact 

that the powder showed unusual flow characteristics 

with the fine powder (AM 625) exhibiting the 

best results in the Hall flow test. In light of these 

results, we conclude that the extrusion results 

are consistent with the flow characteristics of the 

powders, which are influenced more by particle 

shape than by particle size. 

The levels of porosity in the extruded billets 

(99% ram displacement) of the three powder 

grades are shown in Figure 10. Since extrusion 

takes place after significant powder densification 

in the extrusion container, the three grades of 

powders exhibited pore-free extrudates, except at 

the front end where some porosity was observed. 

Figure 11 shows the Vickers hardness data for 

the extrudate as a function of distance from the 

extrudate die end. The microindentation hardness 

values were found to increase initially, reaching a 

steady state value ~50 HV. As noted previously, 

porosity was present at the die end of the extrudate 

due to the absence of back pressure for consolidation. 

The lower values of microindentation 

hardness at the die end of the extrudate can be 

attributed to the presence of porosity, whereas the 

steady state values of microindentation hardness 

can be attributed to the absence of pores and the 

existence of a fully dense microstructure beyond 

the die end. 

To provide insight into the mechanism of densification 

and material flow during extrusion, SEM 

micrographs16 of the AM 605 powder grade at a 

higher extrusion ratio of 12.25 are presented. 

This more rigorous process condition was chosen 



to better illustrate powder compaction and flow 

behavior. The other extrusion parameters were 

similar to those employed in the present work. 

Figure 12 shows micrographs at various locations 

in the precompacted billet, partially extrudated 

billet, and the extrudated billet at 70% ram displacement. 

The micrographs of the precompacted billet 

show aluminum powder particles with pores 

between the particles. Since the billet was compacted 

to ~73% of the pore-free density, ~27% 

porosity was observed which was not uniform 

throughout the billet due to pressure gradients. 

Since the precompacted powder billet was made 

by uniaxial compaction, the level of density was 

higher at the top, as compared with the lower 

end, hence higher densification (lower porosity) 

was observed at the top end as compared with the 

lower end. Also, the powder particles at the top 

end appeared to be plastically deformed while 

those at the lower end were only locked mechanically, 

due to the lower level of plastic deformation. 

The partially extruded billet exhibited a 

microstructure consisting of highly compressed 

and plastically deformed particles at the top end 

and elongated particles due to flow and plastic 

deformation (exhibiting flow lines) at the center 

and lower end. The extent of elongation and densification 

(lower level of porosity) was higher at the 

lower end of the partially extruded billet as compared 

with that at the center. This characterizes 

the level of densification occuring during extrusion 

in the billet as a function of distance from 

the die in the container for a given extrusion ratio. 

The micrograph of the extruded billet exhibited 

highly elongated particles with sharp flow lines 

and a highly densified structure. 

SUMMARY 

The results of this study show that it is possible 

to consolidate various grades of aluminum powder 

to pore-free density by extrusion. 

Consolidation of the precompacted powders 

occurs primarily within the constraint of the 

extrusion container prior to extrusion. 2D and 3D 

density/porosity contour maps of precompacted 

powder billets at various levels of extrusion, and 

extrudates from each powder grade, reflect similar 

stages of consolidation behavior, independent of 

the characteristics of the aluminum powder. 

Microindentation hardness levels of extrudates 

attained steady-state values at essentially the 




same extrudate distance in the three grades of 

aluminum powder. However, the difference in 

breakthrough pressure is a result of different 

powder flow characteristics, which are influenced 

primarily by particle shape and not particle size. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

The authors thank P. John Askeland, operation 

manager AMPAL, Inc., for supplying the aluminum 

powders and to Kai Lorcharoensery and 

Pawel Kazanowski, IMF, Lehigh University, for 

their help and guidance during the course of the 

work. Wojciech Z. Misiolek’s work is partially supported 

by the Loewy Family Foundation through 

an endowed professorship at Lehigh University. 

Vikram V. Dabhade is supported by a grant 

(NNXO7AB61A) from NASA. 

REFERENCES 

1. R.W. Stevenson, “Aluminum Powder Metallurgy 

Technology”, Metals Handbook, Ninth Edition, Volume 7: 

Powder Metallurgy, American Society for Metals, Metals 

Park, OH, 1984, pp. 741–748. 

2. “Aluminum Powder Metallurgy,” Aluminum Association, 

Inc., http://www.aluminum.org. 

3. J.M. Torralba, C.E. da Costa and F. Velasco, “P/M 

Aluminum Matrix Composites: an Overview,” J. Mater. 

Process. Technol., 2003, vol. 133, pp. 203–206. 

4. Z.Y. Ma, Y.L. Li, Y. Liang, F. Zheng, J. Bi and S.C. Tjong, 

“Nanometric Si3N4 Particulate Reinforced Aluminum 

Composite,” Mater. Sci. Eng., 1996, vol. A219, pp. 

229–231. 

5. T. Senthilvelan, K. Raghukandan and A. Venkatraman, 

“Estimation of Extrusion Stress for Sintered P/M 

Preforms—Nomogram Approach,” J. Mater. Process. 

Technol, 2004, vol. 153–154, pp. 420–423. 

6. K. Raghukandan and T. Senthilvelan, “Analysis of P/M 

Hollow Extrusion Using Design of Experiments,” J. Mater. 

Process. Technol, 2004, vol. 153–154, pp. 416–419. 

7. M. Galanty, P. Kazanowski, P. Kansuwan and W.Z. 

Misiolek, “Consolidation of Metal Powders During the 

Extrusion Process,” J. Mater. Process. Technol, 2002, vol. 

125–126, pp. 491–496. 

8. B.L. Ferguson, “Extrusion of Metal Powders,” ASM 

Handbook, Volume 7: Powder Metallurgy, Technologies and 

Applications, ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 

1998, pp. 621–631. 

9. J. Zasadzinski, J. Richert and W. Libura, “The Structure 

and Properties of P/M Materials Formed in a New Method 

Without Sintering,” Advances in Powder Metallurgy and 

Particulate Materials, compiled by J.M. Capus and R.M. 

German, Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, 

NJ, 1992, vol. 4, pp. 353–362. 

10. R.N. Lumley, T.B. Sercombe and G.B. Schaffer, “Surface 

Oxide and the Role of Magnesium During the Sintering of 

Aluminum,” Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 1999, vol. 30A, pp. 

457–463. 

11. H. So, W.C. Li and H.K. Hsieh, “Assessment of the Powder 

35


36 

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Extrusion of Silicon–Aluminum Alloy,” J. Mater. Process. 

Technol., 2001, vol. 114, pp. 18–21. 

12. L. Hu, Z. Li and E. Wang, “Influence of Extrusion Ratio 

and Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical 

Properties of 2024 Aluminium Alloy Consolidated From 

Nanocrystalline Alloy Powders via Hot Hydrostatic 

Extrusion,” 1999, Powder Metall., vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 

153–156. 

13. K. Soma Raju, V.V. Bhanu Prasad, G.B. Rudrakshi and 

S.N. Ojha, “PM Processing of Al-Al2O3 Composites and 

Their Characterization,” Powder Metall., 2003, vol. 46, no. 

3, pp. 219–223. 

14. H. Chandler, Hardness Testing, Second Edition, ASM 

International, Materials Park, OH, 1999, pp. 63–90. 

15. L. Negevsky, A.R. Bandar, W.Z. Misiolek and P. 

Kazanowski, “Physical and Numerical Modeling of Billet 

Upsetting,” Proc. of the 7th International Aluminum 

Extrusion Technology Seminar ET 2000, The Aluminum 

Association & Aluminum Extruders Council, 2000, vol. 1, 

pp.159–166. 

16. M. Galanty, P. Kazanowksi, P. Kansuwan and W.Z. 

Misiolek, “Room Temperature Extrusion of Metal Powder,” 

Lehigh University Internal Report, 2004. ijpm 



POWDER METALLURGY 

IN INDIA 

Gopal S. Upadhyaya* 

INTRODUCTION 

Over the period 1975–1990, the author periodically reported1–4 on 

the status of PM in India. The last review by Johnson5 selectively covered 

some aspects of the PM industry in India. In 1990, liberalization 

of the Indian economy occurred and this was the end of License Raj. 

Many small companies became unprofitable and were closed. At the 

same time many new medium and large companies emerged. 

Entrepreneurs assumed that a small-size PM plant could be viable, 

but they were proved wrong. It was soon realized that small-size firms 

can be profitable only if they produce value-added products. In spite of 

all these ups and downs, the current growth rate of the Indian economy 

is between 8% and 9%. It is interesting to observe that the major 

primary metal producers in India, unlike other countries, have (historically) 

hesitated to enter into metal powder production. In contrast, the 

engineering industries have realized the potential of PM. In the present 

review, attention is focused on metal powder producers, PM parts fabricators, 

and PM equipment manufacturers. The status of PM R&D 

and education in India is also assessed. 

METAL POWDER PRODUCTION 

Historically, in the early stages the electrolytic method for metal 

powder production, particularly of copper and iron, was used. Later 

on, a number of iron powder producers ceased production by this 

route and switched over to water atomization. The only exception is 

Industrial Metal Powder, Pune, which now has an installed capacity of 

1,000 mt per annum of electrolytic iron. This includes flake, commercial 

grade powders, and high-purity powder for chemical and food 

applications. The firm is in compliance with ISO 9001:2000. 

Höganäs India Ltd., a subsidiary of Höganäs AB, Sweden, was 

established in 1987. The company started production of water-atomized 

iron powder in 1993 after acquiring an existing plant in 

Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra State. It prepares different blends of 

reduced iron powder, including annealing, for use in various applications. 

Sponge iron powder is imported from Höganäs AB, Sweden. The 

plant has an applications engineering and development facility, where 

customers’ specific requirements are taken into account. 

*Consultant, Plot 37, Lane 17, Ravindrapuri Colony, Varanasi 221 005, India; E-mail: gsu@iitk.ac.in 



GLOBAL REVIEW 

India, with an annual gross 

domestic product (GDP) 

growth rate of 9%, is 

experiencing a boom in its 

manufacturing base, 

including powder metallurgy 

(PM) processing. This review 

describes the current status 

of metal powder and PM 

parts production, including 

cemented carbides and 

advanced ceramics. The 

boom in the automotive and 

information technology 

industries is beginning to 

play a major role in the 

Indian economy. R&D has 

contributed to the health of 

the PM industry, although 

much more is expected. 

PM education in India is 

meeting its responsibility 

in providing high-quality 

technical manpower. Some 

of the challenges to be faced 

by India are highlighted. 

37

POWDER METALLURGY IN INDIA 

38 

Copper powder is produced by numerous 

firms.1–4 The initial hurdle of precise quality control 

for press-and-sinter grade powders has been 

overcome. P.P. Patel & Co., which began production 

in 1996, has grown considerably over recent 

years. The plant is located near Solapur, 

Maharashtra State. The product ranges from copper 

powder of differing compressibilities, bronze, 

lead, tin, zinc, and powders for cutting and grinding 

tools. The plant has gas-atomization capability, 

controlled-atmosphere furnaces, rod mills, and 

other facilities, and a fully equipped laboratory. 

Sarda Industrial Enterprises, Jaipur, Rajasthan 

State, has been producing nonferrous powders 

since 1982. Electrolytic copper powder is the 

major product, for which virgin copper cathodes 

(99.9% purity) are the starting material. The company 

has plans to produce atomized copper-alloy 

powders and gold bronze powders. 

Shield Alloys (India) Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, produces 

a variety of electrodes. These include 

super-low-heat-input tubular hardfacing electrode 

sticks, which contain chromium and complex 

carbide powders. The electrodes are suitable 

for high deposition rates (up to 4 kg/h weld metal) 

with minimum penetration. 

PRODUCTION OF PM PARTS 

Major PM parts produced are filters, self-lubricating 

bearings, and parts used in automotive, 

home appliance, and office equipment. The range 

of materials embraces ferrous and copper-base 

alloys. Post-sintering treatments such as steam 

and heat treatment are frequently carried out. 

Hot-worked molybdenum and tungsten alloy PM 

products are produced by Mishra Dhatu Nigam 

(MIDHANI), a plant run by the Department of 

Defense Production and Supplies, Ministry of 

Defense. A need for other hot-worked structural 

materials, for example, aluminum, and copperbase 

alloys, exists but the necessary investment 

for indigenous production is not yet forthcoming. 

The biggest PM parts producer in India is GKN 

Sinter Metals Ltd., Pune, previously known as 

Mahindra Sintered Products Ltd. In April 2002, 

GKN bought a minor stake (49%) of Mahindra and 

Mahindra. The company also manufactures custom-designed 

valve-train components via technical 

collaboration with Nippon Piston Ring Co., Japan. 

The plant operates a number of compacting presses 

(3–650 mt) served by an in-house tool room 

complete with a CAD/CAM facility. It also houses 

mesh-belt furnaces, high-temperature pusher furnaces, 

and continuous steam-treatment and hardening 

production lines. It has QS-9000 and ISO 

14001 certification. The plant is comparable with 

any PM plants worldwide. The long history of production 

from this company has indirectly helped 

various smaller PM players in India in terms of 

technical manpower. There is a general concern in 

the local PM community that multinational companies 

have become too inward looking. 

The second major PM parts producer in India is 

Sundaram Fasteners Limited, Metal Form 

Division, Hosur, Tamil Nadu State (40 km south of 

Bangalore). It is part of the TV Sundaram group of 

companies, the largest automotive component 

manufacturing group in India. PM accounts for 

21% of the division’s output. The company also 

has an iron powder plant at Hyderabad with 

~5,400 mt annual capacity. The main PM plant in 

Hosur has 25 compacting presses up to 500 mt 

capacity, 12 sizing presses up to 630 mt capacity, 

and seven sintering furnaces (maximum temperature 

1,130°C). The group formed a joint venture, 

Sundaram Bleistahl Private Ltd., with Bleistahl 

GmbH, Germany, in 2004 to make PM valve-train 

parts, in which Sundaram has a 76% equity stake. 

Federal Mogul Goetze (India) Limited–Sintered 

Products Division, established in 1996, is a joint 

venture between Federal–Mogul Sintered Products 

Limited, U.K. (formerly Brico), and Goetze India 

Ltd. The plant specializes in PM engine and transmission 

components for automotive applications 

and is situated about 100 km south of Delhi. The 

plant has 12 compacting presses and two sintering 

furnaces. Specialty Sintered Products Ltd., 

near Pune, is a relatively new addition. The plant 

has compacting press capacity of 5–200 mt. The 

maximum density of the parts is 7.4 g/cm 3 . 

Sinter hardening and carbonitriding facilities are 

also available. Precision Sintered Products Ltd., 

located in Rajkot, Gujarat State, has produced 

sintered parts since 1997. Primary products are 

bushes, outer inner rotors, and gears. Star 

Sintered Group has three production plants in 

Noida near Delhi, namely Star Sintered Products 

Ltd., Standard Sintered Products Pvt. Ltd., and 

Gold Star Filters Pvt. Ltd. Recently the group 

acquired Sinter Kings Virmani, a Delhi PM company. 

Production capacity has increased from 3 

mt/day to 10 mt/day in one year. In all, the group 

has 30 compacting presses up to 400 mt capacity, 

10 sizing presses, and six sintering furnaces. 



One of the recent PM manufacturing plants initiating 

production in May 2008 is Maxtech 

Sintered Product Pvt. Ltd., Pune. The products 

are to be based on plain iron (600 mt per annum) 

and stainless steel (150 mt per annum) powders. 

The stainless steel grades are 409, 304, 316 , and 

434L. The company envisages that 49% of its 

products will be exported. Although India’s market 

growth for cast and wrought stainless steel 

was double the world’s average, no one (so far) 

has embraced PM stainless steel production. 

Bimetal bearings are produced in India by 

existing plants1–4 and no new additional unit has 

emerged. 

India is not lagging in refractory metal-base PM 

product fabrication. The heavy alloy (HA) penetrator 

project at Tiruchirapalli, set up in 1988 as one 

of the ordnance factories, produces a wide range of 

products. The smallest product is a 2.8 mm cube 

and the largest product is a 50 mm dia. HA bar. 

The plant is ISO 9001:2000 accredited and has a 

capacity of 400 mt per annum for tungsten alloys. 

Metal injection molding (MIM) parts production 

in India has not yet established a firm footing. 

The problems appear to be twofold: lack of a sufficient 

demand for MIM products, and little or no 

viable R&D activity. The coming big boom in laptops 

and cell phone production facilities within 

the country is expected to bring forth a significant 

change in the situation. 

CEMENTED CARBIDE AND DIAMOND TOOL 

PRODUCTION 

Major cemented carbide industries are based 

on foreign collaboration, mainly Sandvik of 

Sweden, Kennametal (earlier Widia GmbH), 

Germany, Ceratizit of the Plansee Group, Austria, 

and TaeguTec of South Korea. There are a number 

of small indigenous plants, but their product 

ranges are rather limited. The big players do 

export their products. 

Ceratizit India (formerly India Hard Metals 

Ltd.), Kolkata, manufactures both cutting tools 

and wear parts. It has an annual capacity of 40 

mt, which is growing at an annual rate >35%. The 

raw materials are both imported and procured 

locally. Exports from this plant are negligible. 

Stay Sharp Diamond Tools Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, 

has been in the PM business since 1983. The company 

produces diamond tools for stone processing 

and the construction industry. With the increase 

in real estate, the use of diamond tools is much in 




demand. The company produces circular saws for 

cutting (maximum saw dia. 300 cm, segment 

length 24 mm, depth of diamond impregnation 20 

mm, and cutting width 11.5 mm) and core drills 

(maximum dia. 400 mm, segment length 24 mm, 

thickness 5 mm, and height 8 mm, 32 segments). 

ADVANCED CERAMIC PRODUCTION 

The Indian PM community has made significant 

inroads in the field of advanced ceramics. Many 

traditional ceramic manufacturers have ventured 

into the area of advanced ceramics. One of the 

major manufacturers is Carborundum Universal 

Ltd. The company produces coated and bonded 

abrasives in addition to the manufacture of super 

refractories, electrominerals, industrial ceramics, 

and ceramic fibers. Presently, the company’s range 

of 20,000 different varieties of abrasives, refractory 

products, and electrominerals are manufactured 

in ten different locations in India. Almost all the 

facilities have received ISO 9001:2000 accreditation 

for quality standards. The export market has 

registered a growth of 20%. 

Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad, an ISO 

9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 organization, is an 

industrial unit of the Department of Atomic 

Energy, Government of India, manufacturing natural 

and enriched uranium oxide fuels and structural 

materials from zirconium and stainless steel for 

all the nuclear power reactors in India. The production 

cycle of the uranium oxide pellets starts with 

the concentrate and requires sophisticated quality 

control. PM operations play a critical part. 

PM PLANTS AND EQUIPMENT 

New Met Pvt. Ltd. is a PM press manufacturing 

company and situated in Mohali, Punjab State. It 

produces ejection-type presses in the capacity 

range 5–50 mt. To date they have delivered more 

than 300 such presses. The firm also manufactures 

withdrawal-type presses in the range 

20–100 mt, but in limited quantities. The main 

market for this type of press is the cemented carbide 

industry. The firm also produces sizing 

presses of up to 40 mt capacity. Reconditioning of 

existing Dorst presses, as well as of other imported 

hydraulic presses, such as Bussmann and 

Alpha, is also carried out by this company. 

Foreign PM press suppliers, particularly Dorst, 

Germany, have a clear presence in India. 

Among sintering furnace manufacturers, 

Fluidtherm Technology Ltd., Chennai, has 

39


40 

become a leader. The company manufacturers 

pusher-tray (T max 1,700°C), mesh-belt (T max 

1,150°C), walking-beam (T max 1,700°C), and 

graphite tube-resistance (T max 2,000°C) furnaces. 

The mesh-belt furnaces also incorporate rapidcooling 

and sinter-hardening modules. The firm 

has gained significant exposure at various international 

PM exhibitions. 

PM AND THE INDIAN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY 

The growth of the Indian PM industry is directly 

linked to the automotive industry. For continued 

growth, there remains scope for diversification. 

India is the second largest two-wheeler producer, 

the 11th largest passenger-car producer, and the 

fifth largest commercial-vehicle producer in the 

world. The government’s Automotive Mission Plan 

2006–2016 aims to make India a global automotive 

hub, accounting for 10% of the GDP, creating 

25 million additional jobs by 2016.6 In its 

Technology Roadmap,7 this core group on automotive 

R&D pays special attention to new 

advanced materials. Unfortunately, there is no 

serious attempt by the PM parts producers to initiate 

R&D in this area. However, academic, government 

research institutes, and some private 

independent R&D centers, are active in such 

research. The Planning Commission, Government 

of India, through the Ministry of Human Resource 

Development, awarded a large grant to this 

author to direct a Technology Development 

Mission Project on “Ferrous PM Materials for 

Automobiles.” The project was completed successfully 

in 2001; investigations were carried out on 

sintered stainless steels.8 

With car manufacturers expanding capacity, it 

is expected that India could end up producing a 

Figure 1. Current and projected PM automotive parts production in Asian 

countries (Courtesy S. Ashok, Sundaram Bleistahl, Hosur). 1 st = 0.9078 mt 

million cars by 2010. The breakthrough came in 

1983–84 with the entry of Maruti Udyog Limited, 

now renamed Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. At present 

there is no major car producer in the world (except 

from the former USSR) that has not opened 

assembly or manufacturing facilities in India. 

Among Asian countries, apart from Japan, South 

Korea has emerged as a major player. There is an 

outward movement of Indian car manufacturers 

too. In March 2008, Tata Motors announced the 

acquisition of luxury automotive brands Jaguar 

and Land Rover, produced in the U.K. for the Ford 

Motor Company, for $2.3 billion. Ford has committed 

to providing engineering support, including 

R&D and other services. It is hoped that such 

acquisition will help in upgrading the quality of 

local manufacturers. This is a major event in 

bringing India to the global automotive scene. A 

recent development in car production in India by 

Tata Motors is the introduction of a small car, the 

4-door 2-cylinder engine “people’s car” named 

Nano with an initial selling price of $2,200. It is 

intended to wean away two-wheeler riders, who 

exist in large numbers. 

Figure 1 illustrates the Asian automotive PM 

parts production trend through 2015. It is evident 

that PM growth in China is greater than in India, 

and may even overtake Japanese production by 

2015. Indian producers must take a hard look at 

this trend. Currently, on average, automotive PM 

part usage in Asia is ~7.0 kg per vehicle, which is 

expected to rise to 10 kg per vehicle by the year 

2020. Figure 2 shows the breakdown of PM parts 

applications by weight per vehicle in engine, 

Figure 2. Use of PM parts per automobile (by weight) worldwide and 

in India. (Courtesy S. Ponkshe, Mahindra & Mahindra R & D Center, 

Nashik) 



transmission, and suspension systems. It is obvious 

that in India the penetration is 40% to 60% 

less than the world average. 

PM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

PM research is being carried out in academe 

(universities and institutes of technology (IIT)), 

and government research institutes (Council of 

Scientific and Industrial Research, Atomic Energy 

Establishments, Defense Research and 

Development Organization Laboratories). The 

Indian Space Research Organization also does 

R&D, but only for its specific needs. If one looks 

at the open literature, major contributions in 

terms of publications are derived from academic 

institutes. The Department of Science and 

Technology, Government of India, founded the 

Advanced Research Center in Powder Metallurgy 

(ARC) in 1995 in Hyderabad. The concept was to 

transfer appropriate PM technology to industry in 

India. Of late, the center has added two new 

words to the name, “International” and “New 

Materials.” To some extent, the center has moved 

from its original mandate and is now more 

engaged in basic research. Research on nanostructured 

materials has become so fashionable 

that many laboratories have become involved, 

without realistically assessing the budgetary 

demand for meaningful research. The science and 

technology planners in the government of India 

appear to lack control with the result that the 

Indian PM industry is confused in relation to what 

to pursue and what to reject. However, the picture 

is not all negative. Mahindra and Mahindra, a 

premier automotive manufacturer in India, has 

developed partnerships with powder manufacturers 

for property data and manufacturing analysis 

for cost-effective powder chemistry and high-density 

PM parts. Ongoing projects are related to synchronizer 

hubs, injection clamps, cam lobes, and 

sensor rings. Future technology exploration with 

global PM parts manufacturers focuses on powder-forged 

conrods and surface-densified gears. 

In academe, the Indian Institute of Technology, 

Kanpur, is most active in PM research.9 Focus 

areas are tungsten-base heavy alloys, stainless 

steels and their particulate composites, sinterhardened 

PM steels, 6000 series sintered aluminum 

alloys, copper–chromium contact 

materials, and microwave sintering. Their PM laboratory 

actively participates in various national 

and international conferences. The Indian 




Institute of Technology, Mumbai, is engaged in 

research on cost-effective alumina powders and 

their sintering behavior. The Nonferrous Materials 

Technology Development Center, Hyderabad, an 

autonomous R&D institution (established via a 

one-time contribution from the premier nonferrous 

metal industries) is active in research on 

rare earth alloys and products, high-purity cobalt 

and its alloys, and refractory metals. 

The Powder Metallurgy Division of the Defense 

Metallurgical Research Laboratory is engaged in 

research on hot isostatically pressed (HIPed) 

superalloys, oxide dispersion-strengthened 303 

stainless steels, and microwave sintering of tungsten. 

The Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, 

is concentrating on nanostructured PM materials. 

ARCI, Hyderabad, has initiated research on the 

production of nanocrystalline titania using chemical 

vapor synthesis. Bhabha Atomic Research 

Centre, Mumbai, has begun work on thorium 

powder, primarily to develop fuels based on thorium–uranium. 

Among the PM industries, the Crompton Greaves 

Global R&D Center, Mumbai, has reported significant 

developments on Cu-Cr (25 and 50 w/o) contact 

materials for vacuum interrupters. One of the 

major furnace manufacturers, Fluidtherm 

Technology Ltd., Chennai, is collaborating with the 

Gas Research Institute of the Ukraine, Kiev, in producing 

reduced iron powder from blue dust, which 

is abundantly available in India. A firm in 

Hyderabad, Akhilesh Engineering, is developing 

metallic disc-brake pads for automobiles by compacting 

the back plate and friction pad together 

and sintering in a reducing atmosphere. 

One of the latest PM research facilities has 

been added by Metform Research, Bangalore. It 

provides engineering solutions including product 

and tool design (CAD), analysis simulation and 

process simulation of metal working processes, 

including PM. Recently, it has become involved in 

the development of products such as bearing 

caps, gears, and automotive filters. The company 

has also developed premix alloy combinations for 

diverse applications. 

Recently, many foreign multinational companies 

have opened R&D centers in India. Some of 

these centers support production units. Late 

entrants are now opening dedicated independent 

centers to pursue studies in new and emerging 

high-tech areas. GE has set a goal of $8.0 billion 

in revenues and $8.0 billion in assets in India by 

41


42 

2010. Automotive firms such as Ford India and 

Honda Siel, along with domestic firms such as 

Ashok Leyland and Maruti Suzuki, have spent a 

total of $80 million.10 

PM EDUCATION 

PM courses are taught in engineering schools 

having a Metallurgical/Materials Engineering 

branch. In other disciplines, PM is included as a 

part of manufacturing processes courses. The 

rigor of structure/properties/performance relationships 

in PM processing is invariably dealt with 

in the metallurgical/materials engineering discipline. 

The latest publication of the author,11 based 

on these a relationships, has received favorable 

reaction. From the beginning, the Indian Institute 

of Technology, Kanpur, contributed to the teaching 

of PM in a quantitative and design-oriented mode. 

Elective courses were also developed at both the 

undergraduate and postgraduate levels; these 

include Sintering and Sintered Products; Sintered 

Tool Materials, and Advances in Powder 

Metallurgy. The Indian Institute of Technology, 

Mumbai, which was active in PM education, is of 

late emphasizing ceramics. The Information 

Technology (IT) boom in India has been somewhat 

of a detriment to the “hard core” engineering disciplines. 

Students migrate to the IT industries 

because of lucrative salaries, and neither the manufacturing 

industries nor the government have 

any clear plan to mitigate the challenge this poses. 

PMAI 

The Powder Metallurgy Association of India 

(PMAI), founded in 1973 at the initiative of R.V. 

Tamhankar, organizes annual technical meetings 

and refresher courses for personnel from the PM 

industry. In early 2008, the 34th Annual 

Technical Meeting was held in Chennai. Of late, 

the established PM companies appear to show 

less enthusiasm for these professional events. The 

cemented carbide industries find an improved 

kinship with the Machine Tool Manufacturing 

Associations. The situation appears similar to 

that described by K.H. Roll in his extensive review 

of the first 50 years of the Metal Powder 

Industries Federation during the 1950s.12 Other 

organizations such as the Indian Ceramic Society 

and the Materials Research Society of India also 

offer scope and flexibility for participation from 

the PM community. 

CONCLUSIONS 

PM in India is developing at a steady rate, but 

one would like to see a quantum jump. There is 

enough scope to diversify into non-automotive PM 

parts, but this requires a vigorous campaign. In 

brief, the PM industry must strive for: 

• Alliances with strategic partners 

• Development of specialized products for key 

customers through enhanced application 

engineering 

• Improvement in supply capacity and a reduction 

in lead times 

• Improvement in consistency of quality 

through total quality management (TQM) and 

Six Sigma programs 

• Strengthening marketing initiatives 

• Comprehensive branding exercise 

• Training of technical manpower, particularly 

at the middle level 

• Interaction with global vendors 

REFERENCES 

1. G.S. Upadhyaya, “Status of Powder Metallurgy in India,” 

Powder Metall. Int., 1975, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 197–200. 

2. G.S. Upadhyaya, “Powder Metallurgy in India,” Powder 

Metall. Int., 1986, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 223–224. 

3. G.S. Upadhyaya, “Powder Metallurgy in India,” Int. J. of 

Powder Metall., 1988, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 259–262. 

4. G.S. Upadhyaya, “Powder Metallurgy in India,” Int. J. of 

Powder Metall., 1990, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 391–395. 

5. P.K. Johnson, “Growth Opportunities for Growth in 

India”, Int. J. of Powder Metall., 2007, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 

9–13. 

6. D. Chenoy, Hindustan Times, February 26, 2008. 

7. Technology Roadmap by the Core Group on Automotive 

R&D, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, New Delhi, 

March 2006. 

8. P. Datta and G.S. Upadhyaya, “Sintered Duplex Stainless 

Steels from Premixes of 316L and 434L Powders,” 

Materials Chemistry and Physics, 2001, vol. 67, no. 1–3, 

p. 234–242. 

9. G.S. Upadhyaya, “Powder Metallurgy at Indian Institute of 

Technology, Kanpur,” Int. J. of Powder Metall., 1991, vol. 

27, no. 1, pp. 59–64. 

10. N. Mrinalini and S. Wakdian, “Foreign R&D Centres in 

India,: Is there any Positive Impact?”, Current Science, 

2008, vol. 94, no. 4, p. 452–458. 

11. G.S. Upadhyaya and A. Upadhyaya, Materials Science and 

Engineering, Anshan Ltd., Tunbridge Wells, Kent, U.K., 

2007. 

12. K.H. Roll, “The First Fifty: A History of the First Half 

Century of the Metal Powder Industries Federation”, Fifty 

Years of Service to Powder Metallurgy 1944–1994, Metal 

Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ, 1994. ijpm 



TUNGSTEN FILAMENTS— 

THE FIRST MODERN PM 

PRODUCT 

Peter K. Johnson* 

The ductile-tungsten lamp filament, introduced 100 years ago in 

1908, is really the first commercially successful mass-produced PM 

product. It can be said that this single product thrust PM onto the 

industrial stage and opened the door to many other developments and 

products still in use today. 

However, the story of the tungsten filament includes, more importantly, 

the story of a man, William D. Coolidge, former director of 

General Electric Corporation’s (GE) R&D laboratory in Schenectady, 

New York. His inquiring spirit and perseverance led to the commercial 

process of making ductile tungsten. I had the privilege of meeting him 

at his home in 1970 when he was a spry 97, Figure 1. We talked at 

length about his early work and many inventions. The occasion was in 

conjunction with the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) giving 

him the Powder Metallurgy Pioneer Award along with another GE man, 

Burnie L. Benbow, who was instrumental in manufacturing tungsten 

wire commercially at GE’s Cleveland, Ohio, Wire Works. 

Coolidge was gracious, remarkably alert, and low-key about his 

accomplishments. He wore regular glasses and his hair was just start- 



Figure 1. William D. 

Coolidge and the 

author, 1970 

HISTORICAL 

PROFILE 

2008 marks the centenary 

of the ductile-tungsten 

incandescent lamp filament, 

the first successful massproduced 

powder metallurgy 

(PM) product. This 

chronology traces William 

Coolidge’s R&D leading to 

the invention, and looks at 

his personal notes, letters, 

and patents. Other tungsten 

developments and current 

PM filament processing are 

reviewed. 

This article is based on a 

presentation given at the 

2008 International 

Conference on Tungsten, 

Refractory & Hardmaterials 

VII, Washington, D.C. 

*Contributing Editor, International Journal of Powder Metallurgy, APMI International, 105 College Road East, Princeton, New Jersey 08501-6692, 

USA; E-mail: pjohnson@mpif.org 

43

TUNGSTEN FILAMENTS—THE FIRST MODERN PM PRODUCT 

44 

ing to turn gray. Hearing was his only impairment, 

for which he wore a hearing aid. He remembered 

working with Thomas Edison and meeting 

many world-renowned scientists like Charles 

Kettering and Charles Steinmetz. Marie Curie was 

a guest at his home. Rudy Dehn, a retired GE laboratory 

staffer, recalls being interviewed by 

Coolidge for a laboratory position in 1945. “He 

was friendly and laid-back and unpretentious. He 

was concerned for his people.” 

WILLIAM D. COOLIDGE 

Born in Hudson, Massachusetts, in 1873, 

Coolidge died in 1975 at the age of 101. He was 

raised in modest circumstances on a seven-acre 

farm. His father worked in a shoe factory and his 

mother was a dressmaker. With no expectations of 

higher education, he left high school to work in a 

rubber factory to augment the family’s finances. 

But fate intervened. 

The rubber business did not excite him so he 

returned to high school and won a scholarship to 

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 

studying electrical engineering as one of 1,200 

students. Illness forced him to drop out of college 

for a year. He graduated in 1896, loaded with debt 

and with no hope of attending graduate school. 

He stayed at MIT as an assistant in physics. 

Again fate intervened when he won a fellowship to 

the University of Leipzig in Germany where he 

met the famous Professor Wilhelm Roentgen, discoverer 

of X-rays. 

After earning a PhD in physics in 1899, summa 

cum laude, he returned to MIT working in the 

physics and chemistry departments for five years 

at an annual salary of $1,500. Still in debt, he 

accepted an offer to work at the GE Electrical 

Research Laboratory in Schenectady in 1905. GE 

had deep pockets then and doubled his annual 

salary to $3,000. After many accomplishments, 

including the “Coolidge X-ray tube,” he was 

named director of the GE Research Laboratory in 

1932 and a GE vice president in 1940. Finally 

retiring in 1944, while holding 83 patents, he continued 

to work as a consultant. 

The inventor Thomas Alva Edison demonstrated 

his incandescent light bulb publicly in 

December 1879 using a carbon filament that 

burned for 45 hours, Figure 2. Contrary to popular 

opinion, he did not invent the light bulb but 

only improved on it. His designs were based on a 

patent he purchased in 1875. In 1892 he merged 

Figure 2. Thomas Edison’s light 

bulb 

the Edison General Electric Company with another 

company to form General Electric Corporation. 

The first electric light was invented in 1809 by 

Humphry Davy, an English chemist who also 

invented the miner’s safety lamp. Heinrich Göbel 

invented the first light bulb in 1854 using a carbonized 

filament inside a glass bulb. In 1878 Sir 

Joseph Wilson Swan, another Englishman, 

invented the first longer-lasting electric light bulb 

(13.5 h) with a carbon-fiber filament. 

FILAMENT MATERIALS 

Edison and others experimented with a variety of 

filament materials including osmium, boron, 

molybdenum, and tantalum. European researchers 

were also working on osmium, tungsten, and tantalum 

filaments and produced non-ductile tungsten. 

Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman began 

working on boron and tungsten filaments in 

Vienna in 1902 and developed processes for making 

non-ductile tungsten wire. The material was 

brittle and fragile and could not withstand rough 

handling. A GE Lamp Department publication 

noted “In spite of all the attention placed on tungsten 

between 1900 and 1908, all of the processes 

that were developed left it brittle and fragile. It 

could not be drawn into wire, it could not be coiled, 

and non-ductile tungsten filaments were hard to 

meet voltage requirements.” 

NON-DUCTILE TUNGSTEN FILAMENT 

INTRODUCED IN U.S. IN 1907 

GE invested hundreds of thousands of dollars 

acquiring patents and manufacturing rights for 



making non-ductile tungsten and actually produced 

lamp bulbs with tungsten filaments beginning 

in 1907. About 500,000 lamp bulbs were 

sold during the first year at the original price of 

$1.50 for a 40 watt bulb and $1.75 for a 60 watt 

bulb. Before that, carbon lamps sold for $1.50 to 

$3.25 each. 

COOLIDGE’S RESEARCH 

Coolidge began his filament research at GE 

working with tantalum powder before switching to 

tungsten. Working diligently for three years, he 

concluded that the high temperature used to sinter 

tungsten brought about a fully crystalline 

structure which caused the brittleness. He developed 

an amalgam filament consisting of mercury, 

cadmium, and bismuth as a binder for the tungsten. 

The mixture was squirted through a die, 

after which the binder was removed by applying 

high heat and then bonding the tungsten particles 



Figure 3. 

Coolidge 

demonstrating 

his process to 

Thomas 

Edison 

Figure 4. 

Drawing die 


by passing a current through the filament. 

However, the filament was still too brittle. 

Coolidge reasoned that it might be possible to 

break up the crystals through mechanical working 

such as hammering or rolling. He discovered 

that sound filaments made by his amalgam 

process could be flattened by pressing them 

between hot blocks of steel or by passing them 

through a mill with heated steel rolls at a temperature 

of red hot or lower. It was determined that 

the resulting flattened tungsten filaments had 

been somewhat strengthened by these operations 

as a result of the local pressure and the metal 

flow, resulting in the change from a fully crystalline 

structure to a somewhat fibrous condition. 

Temperature was very important to tungsten’s 

ductility, created by working it below its annealing 

temperature, Figure 3. 

DRAWING DIE FOR TUNGSTEN 

The first tungsten filament to exhibit permanent 

deformation at room temperature was a 9.8 

× 10 -3 in. (0.249 mm) amalgam process filament 

hot drawn through a series of five diamond dies. 

Tungsten lost its brittleness and even became 

ductile when cold. After three years of concentrated 

R&D, Coolidge and his colleagues finally succeeded 

in making ductile tungsten that could be 

drawn through diamond dies, Figure 4. In 1910 

he succeeded in rolling tungsten wire down to 5.7 

× 10 -3 in. (0.145 mm) square. 

COOLIDGE’S LABORATORY NOTES AND 

LETTERS 

Let us look at how the man operated and slowly 

refined his process. 

On November 11, 1906, Coolidge wrote in his 

laboratory book: “I am getting more and more 

confident, personally every day that tungsten 

lamps for the world will be made by my methods. 

And it pleases me because my method is so different 

in every way from others.” 

Coolidge kept close ties to his mother, whom he 

wrote often about his experiments. On November 

18, 1906, he wrote: “Dear Mother, I have spent a 

very busy but very satisfactory week. We have got 

the production of my filaments up to 500 per day 

and I hope we can raise that this week to 1,000 

per day. I have got it to 19 feet per minute. You 

see I have to count on the production of enormous 

quantities because the company will probably 

make later as many as 200,000 lamps per 

45


46 

day, and one lamp calls for four feet of my wire.” 

On March 11, 1907, he wrote: “Dear Mother, it 

looks now as though I have made a great improvement 

in my filament method. Unless a bug develops 

(and I don’t expect it now) my improved 

method will be very hard to beat, and for the large 

filaments at any rate I very much doubt whether 

anything can touch it. The improvement consists 

in the addition of a small quantity of another 

metal, bismuth, to my mixture. It cuts the time 

per filament from minutes down to four seconds.” 

One month later he wrote, “I am also pleased to 

see that I am getting the credit for my recent discovery 

that tungsten is a ductile metal below red 

heat. I found that these filaments which are so 

brittle cold can readily be bent into any shape by 

heating slightly.” 

EARLY COOLIDGE BULB AND MAZDA BULBS 

GE made the first public announcement of ductile 

tungsten wire in 1910 but changed over to the 

Coolidge process during late 1910. The company 

scrapped about $500,000 worth of equipment as 

well as another $500,000 worth of unsold filament 

lamps. 

In 1907, 90 percent of domestic incandescent 

lamp sales were carbon. By 1916 an estimated 85 

percent were made from tungsten. Lamps made 

with ductile tungsten filaments were marketed by 

GE in 1911 under the Mazda brand in 25, 40, 60, 

100, and 150 watt levels, lasting up to 1,000 h, 

Figure 5 and Figure 6. 

A GE advertisement for Edison Mazda Lamps 

said: “For the same money that you now pay for 

the old-style carbon lamp, you can have your 

choice of three times as much light in each room.” 

COOLIDGE PATENTS 

Coolidge began filing patents in 1909 on dies 

and die supports, and was awarded the patent for 

ductile tungsten (U.S. Patent 1,082,933) on 

December 30, 1913, Figure 7. GE granted licenses 

to several companies to make ductile-tungsten 

wire for incandescent electric lamps. However, 

Coolidge’s 1913 patent was challenged by the 

Independent Lamp & Wire Co., Weehawken, New 

Jersey, and invalidated in 1927 because it was 

not an invention as defined by patent law. 

Many competitors joined the business including 

the Independent Lamp & Wire Company producing 

wire for Sylvania bulbs. Callite Tungsten 

Corporation followed, as well as Westinghouse, 

Mallory Metallurgical, and GTE Sylvania, Inc. 

OTHER TUNGSTEN DEVELOPMENTS 

Coolidge’s seminal work on tungsten filaments 

opened the door to inventing a vacuum tube for 

generating X-rays known as the “Coolidge tube.” 

It became the first stable and controllable X-ray 

generator for medical and dental use and replaced 

gas-filled tubes with platinum targets. Another 

well-known GE researcher, Irving Langmuir, 

found that he could obtain a controllable electron 

emission from one of Coolidge’s hot tungsten filaments 

in a high vacuum instead of a gas. Coolidge 

installed a heated tungsten filament in an X-ray 

tube with a tungsten filament cathode and a 

tungsten target. He also developed tungsten contacts 

for electrical switches used in automotive 

ignition systems. Many other commercially successful 

tungsten products followed. 

Figure 5. Early 

Coolidge bulb 

Figure 6. Mazda 

brand GE 

light bulbs, 

1911–1913 



Figure 7. 1913 Coolidge patent 

CURRENT FILAMENT PROCESS SIMILAR TO 

COOLIDGE PROCESS 

In the 2006 International Journal of Powder 

Metallurgy (vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 11–12) I reported on 

Elmet Technologies’ process, which is very similar 

to the Coolidge process, Figure 8. The company 

compacts tungsten powder into ingots via 

mechanical or cold isostatic pressing which are 

then sintered in hydrogen in a bank of cylindrical 

or bottle resistance-heated furnaces at about 

2,400°C. Sintered ingots weighing up to 22 kg are 

hot rolled into sheet and bar that undergo a series 

of swaging and annealing steps, followed by wire 

drawing. The wire is further processed via a coiling 

or winding step on molybdenum mandrels. 

One lamp bulb uses about 1 m of wire. So, an 




ingot weighing 1.85 kg, which makes 27,000 to 

28,000 m (16.7 to 17.3 miles) of wire, produces 

enough wire for 27,000 to 28,000 bulbs. 

PM PIONEERS 

The PM industry and the tungsten industry owe 

a great debt to William Coolidge, Burnie Benbow, 

and their colleagues for their early research and 

development work on, and production processes 

for, the first commercially successful PM product, 

Figure 9. 

Figure 8. Wire drawing at Elmet Technologies 

Figure 9. PM pioneer, Burnie L. Benbow, right, receives recognition 

by GE co-workers at 1970 International PM Conference 

47


48 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

The author thanks Anthony Scalise, archivist, 

Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche 

Planetarium, which houses the Coolidge collection 

and his personal notes and documents, for his 

invaluable assistance. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

H. Schroeder, The Incandescent Lamp—Its History, Edison 

Lamp Works of GE Co., Bulletin L.D., vol. 118A, 1923. 

W.P. Sykes, Modern Uses of Nonferrous Metals, A.I.M.E., NY, 

1935. 

L.G. Leighton, A History of the Incandescent Lamp, GE Lamp 

Department, 1958. 

J.A. Miller, Yankee Scientist: William David Coolidge, 1963, 

Mohawk Development Service, Schenectady, NY. 

C.G. Suits, National Academy of Sciences Memorial Biography, 

Washington, DC, 1982. 

J.E. Britain, “William D. Coolidge and Ductile Tungsten”, 

Industry Applications Magazine, IEEE, 2004, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 

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STATE OF THE 

PM INDUSTRY IN NORTH 

AMERICA—2008 

Mark Paullin* 

CHALLENGES TO GROWTH 

Despite facing a “perfect storm” of challenges in 2007, the PM 

industry in North America remains the world’s largest and most innovative 

market. The shrinking market share of domestic original equipment 

manufacturers (OEMs) or the Detroit 3 (as they are now called), 

the shift away from full-size sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and light 

trucks, spiraling energy costs, and volatile commodity prices have all 

hit the industry at the same time. These challenges are continuing to 

confront the industry in 2008. 

However, there is still some good news. The weaker dollar has made 

PM parts relatively competitive in the international marketplace and in 

this environment, U.S. PM manufacturers are reporting a 66% reduction 

in PM parts lost to overseas companies. The weaker dollar has 

also resulted in a strengthening in demand for export-driven companies 

like Caterpillar and others. 

METAL POWDER TRENDS 

Iron powder demand in North America reached a peak of 430,000 

mt (473,000 st) in 2004 and has declined steadily since that time, 

falling 8% in 2005, 6% in 2006, and an additional 3% in 2007 (Figure 

1). Demand for iron powder is forecasted to fall an additional 8%–10% 

for 2008 due to weakened automotive production, especially SUVs and 

Figure 1. North American iron powder shipments. (1 st = 0.9078 mt) 

*President, MPIF, and President, Capstan, 16100 S. Figueroa Street, Gardena, California 90248, USA; mpaullin@capstan.cc 



ENGINEERING & 

TECHNOLOGY 

The powder metallurgy (PM) 

industry in North America 

faces many challenges, particularly 

from the declining 

U.S. automotive market and 

volatile commodity prices. 

Metal powder shipments 

softened in 2007 and the 

outlook for the balance of 

2008 remains somewhat 

negative. However, new 

automotive engines and 

transmissions contain an 

increasing number of PM 

parts. The industry, through 

the Metal Powder Industries 

Federation (MPIF) and the 

Center for PM Technology 

(CPMT) continues to invest 

in programs to improve 

materials’ properties and 

provide designers with more 

information about PM’s 

capabilities. 

Presented at the PM2008 

World Congress in 

Washington, D.C. 

49

STATE OF THE PM INDUSTRY IN NORTH AMERICA—2008 

Figure 2. North American shipments of copper and copper base powders. 

Figure 3. North American metal powder shipments. 

50 

light trucks which contain up to 29.5 kg (65 lb.) of 

PM parts per vehicle. Overall, the North American 

PM demand for powders will fall 25% between 

2004 and 2008. 

Copper powder shipments have also fared poorly, 

declining by 8.2% to approximately 18,065 mt 

(19,900 st), Figure 2. Tin powder shipments 

plunged 19.4% in 2007 to 713 mt (785 st). Early 

reports for 2008 show a continued decline in consumption 

of copper and tin with both markets negatively 

impacted by the softening PM parts market 

and high commodity prices. These high prices have 

certainly opened the gates for substitution. 

Stainless steel and nickel demand in 2007 

declined an estimated 5% to 8,783 mt (9,675 st) 

and 8,315 mt (9,160 st), respectively. On the 

bright side, tungsten and tungsten carbide powder 

shipments increase an estimated 3% to 4,221 

mt (4,650 st) and 6,681 mt (7,360 st), Figure 3. 

VOLATILE COMMODITIES IMPACT PM 

MATERIALS 

During the past two years volatile commodity 

prices have played havoc with metal powder manufacturers 

and their customers, the PM parts 

makers. 

Roller-coaster prices of steel, copper, nickel, 

tin, and molybdenum have all impacted the PM 

marketplace. Steel scrap prices rose 33% in 2007 

from $243/st to $322/st. The buzz in every hallway 

of this conference is the skyrocketing price to 

over $800/st in June of 2008, a 150% price 

increase over the past 6 months. 

Nickel is another story. The average price in 

2006 was $6.68/lb., in 2007 it jumped to 

$16.88/lb., and in 2006 it had fallen to 

$13.13/lb. 

All PM companies are faced with surging utility 

prices. Over the past 12 months through June of 

2008, natural gas prices have increased 54%, coal 

for electrical generating plants is up 210%, and 

crude oil is up 200%. We must, however, remember 

that most substitute materials and competing 

technologies face similar dramatic material and 

utility price increases leaving PM producers with 

their fundamental pricing advantage intact. 

HOPE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE MARKET 

While PM has suffered because of structural 

changes in the automotive market, production 

cuts, and the negative impact of the American 

Axle strike, there is still cause for optimism. 

Despite the many challenges, North America continues 

to lead the world in consumption of iron 

and steel powders, approximately 363,120 mt 

(400,000 st) compared with 272,340 mt (300,000 

st) for Asia, and 181,560 mt (200,000 st) for 

Europe. 

As a near net-shape technology, PM’s cost savings 

benefits are second to none. High-visibility 

products like powder-forged connecting rods, 

main bearing caps, and transmission carriers are 

still manufactured in high volumes and used by 

both the domestic OEMs and transplants. 

Industry insiders tell us that Japanese automotive 

transplant companies are opening their doors 

wider to new PM applications as they seek to 

reduce costs. It may be a slow process to get a 

purchase order but it is sustainable long-term 

business. Most design decisions, though, are still 

made in Japan, especially for the powertrain 

parts; North American parts makers must develop 

relationships with engineering departments there. 

New engines and six-speed transmissions contain 

more PM parts. For example, six-speed trans- 



missions contain 8.2 to 11.8 kg (18 to 26 lb.) of 

PM parts. The new GM High-Feature 3.6 L V-6 

DOHC engine contains about 16.3 kg (36 lb.), 

which is more than the total PM parts content 

was in the average U.S.-built vehicle in 1998. It is 

a world engine made in Australia, Canada, Japan, 

and the U.S. 

Another new product is the dual-clutch transmission, 

a growing product that contains about 

7.2 to 8.2 kg (16 to 18 lb.) of PM parts. 

The next generation of North American-built 

diesel engines, scheduled for introduction during 

the 2009 to 2011 timeframe, is another bright 

spot. Applications include PM cam-gear drives, 

idler gears, timing-system sprockets, and fuelinjector 

gears. In addition, powder-forged connecting 

rods and PM bearing caps are currently 

undergoing validation testing. The outlook for 

acceptance looks promising. Observers are forecasting 

that diesels could capture 20 percent of 

the North American engine market within the next 

10 years. 

Because of the shift away from full-size SUVs 

and light trucks to crossover vehicles and cars, 

the average PM content per vehicle has stabilized 

in 2008 at 19.5 kg (43 lb.), the same as in 2007. 

This number will improve when production volumes 

are expected to normalize at an annual rate 

of 15 million to 15.5 million light vehicles after the 

second quarter of next year. In contrast, the average 

European-built vehicle contains 10 kg (22 lb.) 

of PM parts, and the average car built in Japan 

about 8.6 kg (19 lb.) of PM parts, Figure 4. 

Over the past year, in an effort to determine 

Figure 4. Estimated weight of PM parts/components in a typical vehicle. 

(1 lb. = 0.455 kg) 




more than just the weight of PM parts in a typical 

vehicle, MPIF has been working with its member 

companies to assess the total number of actual 

applications and total parts in a typical vehicle. 

Although this extensive study is not yet finalized, 

at a minimum, a typical North American car has 

more than 230 different applications containing 

over 750 total PM parts. Since we are still gathering 

data, these numbers are conservative and will 

undoubtedly increase when additional data are 

collected. 

THE MIM MARKET 

The North American MIM market is expected to 

grow in the range of 10 to 15 percent this year. 

The market in 2007 is estimated at about $155 

million in sales from 20 to 25 job shops. Medical 

products, firearms, and hand tools are the top 

three domestic markets. Only a handful of MIM 

parts makers produce automotive applications, 

the most important of these being turbocharger 

vanes. Injection molding has been successful in 

making hardmetal twist blades with a uniform 

helical twist. While iron–nickel alloys and stainless 

steels dominate the MIM materials mix, specialty 

materials are finding applications too. These 

include copper, titanium, hardmetals, soft magnetic 

alloys, and superalloys. 

THE PM PARTS INDUSTRY 

Major acquisitions and plant closings have 

pruned the PM parts business in the period since 

1990 when MPIF began collecting acquisition statistics, 

during which time 129 acquisitions have 

been documented, Figure 5. Large multinational 

corporations and various private equity groups 

have purchased many entrepreneurial companies 

in a consolidation trend. Less-efficient operations 

have been closed or folded into larger plants. 

Rationalization of products has occurred where 

specific long-run parts are fed into dedicated 

plants with automated production lines. 

Companies have also relinquished marginally 

profitable parts. 

Industry companies can be grouped into four 

categories: Tier 1—annual sales >$200 million; 

Tier 2—annual sales of $75 to $200 million; Tier 

3—annual sales of $25 to $75 million; and Tier 

4—annual sales


52 

Figure 5. PM 

acquisitions 

since 1990 

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 

Faced with macroeconomic and marketplace 

challenges, the PM industry continues to invest in 

new technology. Developments in metal powders, 

equipment, and processes are leading the way to 

higher-performance materials and new applications. 

Metal powder suppliers are developing new 

materials to achieve higher densities and improved 

properties. One manufacturer is promoting a 

material to achieve a density of 7.5 g/cm 3 by single 

pressing and sintering. The company has completed 

a project on surface densification of gears to 

pore-free density with a core density of 7.5 g/cm 3 . 

A PM parts maker has improved its surface-densification 

technology from single-level parts to complex 

multilevel gears and sprockets. Another 

powder maker has developed a new material that 

increases the fatigue limit of powder-forged connecting 

rods by 30 percent. 

Soft magnetic composite powders are finding 

application in new three-dimensional (3D) designs 

for electrical applications. 

While copper-powder usage has declined for 

traditional PM applications, thermal management 

and bioscience markets offer attractive growth 

opportunities. Copper’s antimicrobial properties 

could open up new applications in healthcare. 

Compacting-press makers are developing new 

technology. Some examples are presses offering 

up to 11 levels, enabling more net-shape parts, 

tonnages up to 2,450 mt (2,700 st), hybrid servo 

systems, and new warm-compaction heating and 

delivery systems. 

MPIF and the PM industry have been investing 

in new technology through the MPIF Technical 

Board and the CPMT. 

The MPIF Technical Board has taken over the 

PM Roadmap Committee, which has assessed the 

6-year progress of the PM Vision & Technology 

Roadmap. The committee is currently assessing 

the status and use of high-temperature sintering 

and PM compacting presses. As cited earlier, 

another project, the PM Automotive Parts Catalog, 

is almost completed. It is a living document to 

assess the total number of PM parts in a typical 

automobile and will be used to expand the use of 

PM technologies by determining what new applications 

can be developed. 

The CPMT will have spent >$200,000 since 

2006 for studies on single pressing to full density 

and in developing new fatigue data for PM materials. 

The new fatigue data will engender more confidence 

in selecting PM materials among design 

engineers. 

Investment in new technologies is vital to the 

success and future growth of the PM industry. 

Our industry has been through many up-anddown 

cycles over its history, and has always survived 

into the next growth phase. We are still a 

relatively young industry with a great potential. 

Innovation will prevail, as witnessed by the powerful 

technical program at this massive World 

Congress and Tungsten Conference with nearly 

500 formal technical presentations. 

Yes, despite the challenges in adjusting to an 

ever-changing North American automotive marketplace, 

our industry’s future remains bright 

indeed. ijpm 



Powder Metallurgy Stainless 

Steels: Processing, 

Microstructures and Properties 

Erhard Klar and Prasan Samal 

ISBN 13: 978-0-87170-848-9 

ASM International 

Materials Park, OH 

2007, 256 pages 

As the title implies, this book reviews the 

mechanical properties and corrosion response of 

PM stainless steels and how they can be modified 

by processing. The authors argue that growth of 

the stainless powder metallurgy (PM) market can 

be extended if an improved understanding of the 

processing factors that lead to improved corrosion 

resistance of PM stainless steels can be developed. 

Both authors have extensive experience in 

the field and augment their narrative with a comprehensive 

compilation of references from current 

sources relevant to the PM industry. These references 

include both theoretical and practical 

examples in support of the authors’ dialogue. 

The metallurgy of PM stainless steels is 

reviewed by detailing the various classes of stainless 

steel (i.e., austenitic, ferritic, martensitic, 

etc.) and their corresponding chemistries. This 

knowledge can be generalized by the reader for 

PM, metal injection molding (MIM), and wrought 

grades of stainless steel. The combined effects of 

the chemistry (via microstructure) and thermal 

processing are reviewed as they relate to both 

mechanical properties and corrosion resistance in 

various environments. The authors also review 

the grades of stainless steel that are not covered 

by current MPIF standards, but are generally 

accepted by PM parts makers and end users. 

These grades include products common to the 

wrought industry and others that are viable by 

virtue of the unique attributes of PM processing. 

The several manufacturing methods for 

stainless steel powders and their effects on the 

characteristics of the powder (particle-size distribution, 

compactability, flow properties, sinterability) 

are reviewed. This is followed by a brief review 

of powder-processing techniques such as water 

and gas atomization, drying, screening, and 



BOOK REVIEW 

annealing, which allows the reader to understand 

the various methods of powder manufacturing. 

Although this section is brief, extensive references 

are available for the reader needing to explore this 

topic in more detail. 

The section covering compaction gives an 

extensive yet practical review of the role of commercial 

lubricants on the physical properties of 

stainless steel, such as green density and green 

strength. Non-traditional methods of compacting 

stainless steel powders such as warm compaction 

and double pressing are also covered. Compaction 

in MIM, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and extrusion 

as applied to stainless steels are reviewed as well. 

Sintering, and its role on corrosion resistance, 

receives extensive treatment by the authors since, 

in their opinion, most aspects of sintering have a 

direct bearing on corrosion resistance. The various 

sintering atmospheres used all have “peculiarities 

with regard to stainless steels” since they 

interact with carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. For 

this reason the authors review the fundamental 

interactions between these elements, the sintering 

atmosphere, and temperature. Furthermore, some 

of these relationships, as presented by the 

authors, are not intuitive and must be considered 

by the processor. In this chapter, various methods 

of measuring corrosion resistance are introduced 

and related to variables in the sintering process 

and the types of stainless steel. A review of vacuum 

and liquid-phase sintering is also included. 

Subsequent chapters in the book provide extensive 

reviews of mechanical, magnetic, and corrosion 

testing of the various grades of stainless 

steel. These chapters are an excellent resource 

since they contain data for stainless powders at 

various densities processed under diverse conditions. 

The chapter on magnetics provides the 

reader with a basic understanding of magnetism 

and reviews the factors affecting the magnetic 

properties of PM stainless steels. Similarly, the 

chapter on corrosion reviews testing procedures 

in relation to PM stainless steels, with accompanying 

data for the various classes of PM stainless 

steels. 

The final two chapters of the book cover secondary 

operations (such as machining, welding, 

brazing, and impregnation) and applications of 

PM stainless steels. The chapter on applications 

53

BOOK REVIEW 

54 

introduces case histories illustrating the development 

of several significant PM stainless steel 

parts. These case studies highlight the many 

potential uses for PM stainless steel and their 

competitive advantages over the wrought grades. 

This chapter highlights the authors’ premise that 

as the corrosion resistance of PM stainless steels 

is increased through a fundamental knowledge of 

processing, opportunities for the use of PM stainless 

steel will grow. 

Finally, this book is an excellent resource on 

PM stainless steels. For the individual exposed to 

PM stainless steels for the first time, it provides a 

fundamental understanding of the factors impacting 

the successful production of stainless steel 

PM parts, from powder manufacturing to process- 

ing conditions in compaction and sintering. For 

the more experienced user of PM stainless steels, 

it provides a wealth of references with which to 

explore specific topics in a more detailed fashion. 

The compilation of properties (mechanical and 

corrosion) and the atlas of microstructures make 

this an excellent reference book for anyone utilizing 

PM stainless steels. 

For more information on this title, contact the 

MPIF Publications Department at 609-452-7700; 

E-mail: plebedz@mpif.org; www.mpif.org. 

Christopher T. Schade 

Manager–Pilot Plants 

Hoeganaes Corporation 

1001 Taylors Lane 

Cinnaminson, NJ 08077 



2008 

PM SINTERING SEMINAR 

September 23–24 

Cleveland, OH 

MPIF* 

5TH INTERNATIONAL 

CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED 

MATERIALS AND PROCESSING 


Harbin, China 

icamp.hit.edu.cn/ 

SUPERALLOYS 2008 


Champion, PA 

www.tms.org/Meetings/ 

specialty/superalloys2008/ 

home.html 

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON 

ALUMINUM ALLOYS 


Aachen, Germany 

www.dgm.de 

EURO PM2008 

September 29–October 1 

Mannheim, Germany 

www.epma.com/pm2008 

MATERIALS SCIENCE & 

TECHNOLOGY 2008 CONFERENCE 

& EXHIBITION 

October 5–9 

Pittsburgh, PA 

www.matscitech.org/2008/ 

home.html 

5TH INTERNATIONAL POWDER 

METALLURGY CONFERENCE 

October 8–12 

Ankara, Turkey 

www.turkishpm.org/5pm2008 

GUANGZHOUMART FAIR 2008 

APM 

AUTO, CYCLE, TUNING 

TECHNOLOGY, AUTO 

MANUFACTURING, PARTS & 

ACCESSORIES EXHIBITION 


Guangzhou, China 

www.worldtradeexpo.com.hk 



2008 CHINA (SHANGHAI) 

INTERNATIONAL POWDER 

METALLURGY EXHIBITION & 

CONGRESS 


Shanghai, China 

www.china-pmexpo.com/en 

SINTERING 2008 

November 16–20 

La Jolla, CA 

www.ceramics.org/ 

sintering2008 

PMP III 

THIRD INTERNATIONAL 

CONFERENCE—PROCESSING 

MATERIALS FOR PROPERTIES 

December 7–10 

Bangkok, Thailand 

www.tms.org/meetings/ 

specialty/pmp08 

2009 

PM-09 

5TH INTERNATIONAL 

CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 

February 16–18 

Goa, India 

www.pmai.in/ 

PIM2009 


POWDER INJECTION MOLDING & 

WORKSHOP ON MEDICAL 

APPLICATIONS OF MICRO 

POWDER INJECTION MOLDING 

March 2–5 

Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), FL 


MATERIAIS 2009 

5TH INTERNATIONAL MATERIALS 

SYMPOSIUM 

April 5–8 

Lisbon, Portugal 

http://www.demat.ist.utl.pt/ 

materiais2009/ 

17TH PLANSEE SEMINAR ON 

HIGH-PERFORMANCE PM 

MATERIALS 

May 25–29 

Reutte, Austria 

www.plansee.com 

TOOL 09—TOOL STEELS 

June 2–4 

Aachen, Germany 

www.tool09.rwth-aachen.de 

POWDERMET2009: 

MPIF/APMI INTERNATIONAL 

CONFERENCE ON POWDER 

METALLURGY & PARTICULATE 

MATERIALS 

June 28–July 1 

Las Vegas, NV 


THERMEC 2009: SIXTH 


ADVANCED MATERIALS AND 

PROCESSES 

August 25–29 

Berlin, Germany 

SDMA 2009/ICSF VII—4TH 


SPRAY DEPOSITION AND MELT 

ATOMIZATION/7TH 


SPRAY FORMING 


Bremen, Germany 

www.sdma-conference.de/ 

2010 

MEETINGS AND 

CONFERENCES 

POWDERMET2010: 

MPIF/APMI INTERNATIONAL 

CONFERENCE ON POWDER 

METALLURGY & PARTICULATE 

MATERIALS 

June 27–30 

Hollywood (Ft. Lauderdale), 

FL 


PM2010 WORLD CONGRESS 


Florence, Italy 

*Metal Powder Industries Federation 

105 College Road East, Princeton, New Jersey 

08540-6692 USA 

(609) 452-7700 Fax (609) 987-8523 

Visit www.mpif.org for updates and registration. 

Dates and locations may change 

55

ADVERTISERS’ 

INDEX 

56 

ADVERTISER FAX WEB SITE PAGE 

ACE IRON & METAL CO. INC.______________________(269) 342-0185 ______________________________________________________6 

ACUPOWDER INTERNATIONAL, LLC ________________(908) 851-4597 ________www.acupowder.com ___________________________36 

AMETEK SPECIALTY METAL PRODUCTS _____________(724) 225-6622 ________www.ametekmetals.com _________________________3 

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG _________________________(860) 667-6522 ________www.arburg.com _______________________________7 

BÖHLER UDDEHOLM ____________________________(603) 883-3101 ________www.bucorp.com ______________________________23 

CENTORR _____________________________________(603) 595-9220 ________www.centorr.com ______________________________48 

CM FURNACES, INC. ____________________________(973) 338-1625 ________www.cmfurnaces.com __________________________14 

ELNIK SYSTEMS ________________________________(973) 239-6066 ________www.elnik.com________________________________33 

HOEGANAES CORPORATION ______________________(856) 786-2574 ________www.hoeganaes.com___________INSIDE FRONT COVER 

NORILSK NICKEL _______________________________(+ 7 495) 785 58 08 ____www.norilsknickel.com __________________________8 

NORTH AMERICAN HÖGANÄS INC. _________________(814) 479-2003 ________www.nah.com __________________INSIDE BACK COVER 

SCM METAL PRODUCTS, INC._____________________(919) 544-7996 ________www.scmmetals.com ____________________________4 

TIMCAL _______________________________________+41 91 873 2009 _______www.timcal.com_______________________________25 

QMP _________________________________________(734) 953-0082 ________www.qmp-powders.com ________________BACK COVER 

ADVERTISER’S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FAX FORM 

Need more information on products or services seen in this issue? 

Complete the form below and fax to the advertiser(s) of your choice. 

Fax numbers are listed in the advertisers’ index above. 


powder 

metallurgy 

To:___________________________________ Fax #: ____________________________________________________________________ 

Company: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Please send me more information on: __________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

as advertised in the __________ issue of the International Journal of Powder Metallurgy. 

Please send information to: 

Name: Title:______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Company: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

City:____________________________ State:_______________ Postal Code: ____________________________________________ 

Country: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Phone:___________________ Fax:___________________ E-Mail: ______________________________________________________ 



ADVERTISERS’ 

INDEX 

56 

ADVERTISER FAX WEB SITE PAGE 

ACE IRON & METAL CO. INC.______________________(269) 342-0185 ______________________________________________________6 

ACUPOWDER INTERNATIONAL, LLC ________________(908) 851-4597 ________www.acupowder.com ___________________________36 

AMETEK SPECIALTY METAL PRODUCTS _____________(724) 225-6622 ________www.ametekmetals.com _________________________3 

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG _________________________(860) 667-6522 ________www.arburg.com _______________________________7 

BÖHLER UDDEHOLM ____________________________(603) 883-3101 ________www.bucorp.com ______________________________23 

CENTORR _____________________________________(603) 595-9220 ________www.centorr.com ______________________________48 

CM FURNACES, INC. ____________________________(973) 338-1625 ________www.cmfurnaces.com __________________________14 

ELNIK SYSTEMS ________________________________(973) 239-6066 ________www.elnik.com________________________________33 

HOEGANAES CORPORATION ______________________(856) 786-2574 ________www.hoeganaes.com___________INSIDE FRONT COVER 

NORILSK NICKEL _______________________________(+ 7 495) 785 58 08 ____www.norilsknickel.com __________________________8 

NORTH AMERICAN HÖGANÄS INC. _________________(814) 479-2003 ________www.nah.com __________________INSIDE BACK COVER 

SCM METAL PRODUCTS, INC._____________________(919) 544-7996 ________www.scmmetals.com ____________________________4 

TIMCAL _______________________________________+41 91 873 2009 _______www.timcal.com_______________________________25 

QMP _________________________________________(734) 953-0082 ________www.qmp-powders.com ________________BACK COVER 

ADVERTISER’S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FAX FORM 

Need more information on products or services seen in this issue? 

Complete the form below and fax to the advertiser(s) of your choice. 

Fax numbers are listed in the advertisers’ index above. 


powder 

metallurgy 

To:___________________________________ Fax #: ____________________________________________________________________ 

Company: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Please send me more information on: __________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

as advertised in the __________ issue of the International Journal of Powder Metallurgy. 

Please send information to: 

Name: Title:______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Company: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

City:____________________________ State:_______________ Postal Code: ____________________________________________ 

Country: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Phone:___________________ Fax:___________________ E-Mail: ______________________________________________________

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