Powder Metal Aluminum

GKN Sinter Metals has developed aluminum powder metal technology into a robust production process, primarily through the manufacture of some 40 million aluminum cam shaft bearing caps during the late 1990s and into the early part of this decade. Currently, powder metal aluminum is the material of choice for selected high-volume applications.

Metallurgical Fundamentals
Aluminum has a strong affinity for oxygen. Powder particles are coated with a thin shell of aluminum oxide. The shell must be fragmented to ensure that strong inter-particle bonds are produced. Fragmentation is accomplished by spinel formation and liquid phase sintering. Concentration of the liquid phase, and thus temperature, must be precisely controlled.