Monolith Dental Bridge by Soft Machining of Dried Ceramic Dough

All-ceramic fixed restorations are gaining popularity because of increased esthetic consciousness in the younger population. Monolith ceramic crowns and bridges are preferred to withstand masticatory loads where the availability of occlusal height is limited. Machining green blanks of ceramic with organic binders have been studied to reduce loss of final strength, cost, and wastage associated with milling partial sintered and sintered blanks. Notches on the surface/edge associated with green milling will disappear after sintering in contrast to sintered state machining where diamond polishing is essential. In this study, we explored a novel ceramic dough process to form a green body of alumina or 3 Mol% yttria-stabilized zirconium oxide (YSZ), and computer numerical control (CNC) machining was performed on the dried dough. Micro Computer Tomography analysis of the bridges after sintering revealed a negligible void volume, 0.06–0.08% of the total volume, with randomly dispersed voids. Precision analysis of the sintered bridges with respect to the reference file resulted in a deviation range of +0.56 to −0.79 mm, with negligible deviation on the cementation surface. The green machined surface had a roughness profile of 1.2–1.7 μm after machining and 2.2–2.4 μm after sintering, as revealed by 3D profilometry.

Designing Powder Metallurgy Process - The Influence of High Sintering Temperature on Dimensional and Geometrical Precision

The precision of parts produced by Powder Metallurgy (PM) strongly depends on the careful design of PM process parameters. Among them, high sintering temperature is generally considered as detrimental for dimensional and geometrical precision, and therefore neglected in industrial production. Nevertheless, high sintering temperature would strongly improve mechanical characteristics of PM parts, so that the real influence of high sintering temperature on dimensional and geometrical precision is of great interest for PM companies. This study investigates the influence of sintering temperature (up to 1350 °C) on dimensional and geometrical precision of real parts. Dimensional changes on sintering and the effect of sintering temperature have been evaluated. Geometrical characteristics have been measured both in the green and in the sintered state, and the real influence of sintering temperature has been highlighted. As a conclusion, it has been demonstrated that the larger shrinkage due to the high sintering temperature is not detrimental with respect to the dimensional precision, being it reliably predictable. Moreover, the influence on geometrical characteristics is unexpectedly low. The encouraging results of this study convinced the main PM companies in Europe to further investigate the influence of high sintering temperature, as partners in a Club Project within the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA).

Effect of Different Post-Sintering Temperatures on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of a Pre-Sintered Co–Cr Alloy

Although a cobalt–chromium (Co–Cr) blank in a pre-sintered state has been developed, there are few data on the optimal temperature for the alloy in terms of the desired mechanical properties. A metal block (Soft Metal, LHK, Chilgok, Korea) was milled to produce either disc-shaped or dumbbell-shaped specimens. All the milled specimens were post-sintered in a furnace at 1250, 1350 or 1450 °C. The microstructures, shrinkage and density of the three different alloys were investigated using the disc-shaped specimens. The mechanical properties were investigated with a tensile test according to ISO 22674 (n = 6). The number and size of the pores in the alloys decreased with increased temperature. The shrinkage and density of the alloys increased with temperature. In the 1250 °C alloy, the formation of the ε (hexagonal close-packed) phase was more predominant than that of the γ (face-centered cubic) phase. The 1350 °C and 1450 °C alloys showed γ phase formation more predominantly. Carbide formation was increased along with temperature. The 1450 °C group showed the largest grain size among the three groups. In general, the 1350 °C group exhibited mechanical properties superior to the 1250 °C and 1450 °C groups. These findings suggest that 1350 °C was the most optimal post-sintering temperature for the pre-sintered blank.

Review of the Powder Metallurgical Production of Net-Shaped Titanium Implants

The paper gives a short review of P/M routes which were developed or adapted by the authors for the net-shape manufacturing of titanium implants. Special attention is paid to the production of highly porous bone implants, where the porosity is achieved by the application of temporary space holder particles, which are removed before or during sintering by decomposition or dissolution. In this case, shaping was done either by machining of powder compacts in the green and sintered state or by metal injection moulding (MIM). The challenges of these shaping technologies and current solutions are discussed. To complete the review, two promising new technologies for the net-shape production of highly porous titanium implants, the replica technique and additive manufacturing are briefly introduced.

Powder Metallurgy Ti-6Al-4V Alloy with Wrought-Like Microstructure and Mechanical Properties by Hydrogen Sintering

Hydrogen sintering phase transformation (HSPT) is a low-cost, blended elemental, press and sinter powder metallurgy process. During HSPT, compacts of TiH2 powder are sintered in dynamically controlled partial pressures of hydrogen followed by a vacuum anneal (dehydrogenation). The use of hydrogen in the sintering atmosphere allows phase transformations in the Ti – H system to create an ultra-fine lamellar microstructure in the as-sintered state with mechanical properties that exceed ASTM standards. Additionally, the fine lamellar structure allows for secondary heat treatments to produce wrought-like microstructures. The removal of hydrogen in the dehydrogenation step is critical to prevent hydrogen embrittlement. The kinetics of dehydrogenation are discussed, in which a model for the concentration profile and an empirical equation for maximum hydrogen concentration as a function of time and size are developed.

Sliding Wear of TiCN PVD Coated Prealloyed Chromium Sintered Steel

The present paper deals with the sliding wear behaviour of prealloyed chromium sintered steel (Fe-1.5Cr-0.2Mo) with graphite powder added in the amount of 0.7%. The wear characteristics, such as profilograms, wear tracks morphology and wear curves of the as sintered specimens and TiCN coating were investigated through pin-on-disk tests. The specimens were sintered in pusher furnace at the temperature of 1453 K for 2400 s in a nitrogen-hydrogem atmosphere. Dominant bainitic microstructures with evident features of plastic deformation at the worn surface were detected. The coating of the investigated prealloyed steels increases the wear resistance in comparison with the as-sintered state according to the wear curves. Microstructural and EDX analyses confirmed that delamination and oxidation wear are the main wear mechanism in wear tests.

Design of Low Cost High Performance Powder Metallurgy Titanium Alloys: Some Basic Considerations

The inexpensive hydrogenated–dehydrogenated (HDH) titanium powder made from the Kroll sponge titanium provides a cost-affordable basis for powder metallurgy (PM) Ti alloy development. The design targets we hope to achieve are low feedstock cost (< $25/kg) including all alloying elements; low fabrication cost based on cold compaction and pressureless sintering, and wrought grades of properties of Ti-6Al-4V in the as-sintered state. Relevant issues are considered. These include alloying with inexpensive elements such as Fe and Si, grain size control during heating, isothermal sintering and cooling, chemical homogeneity of as-sintered microstructure, and simultaneous scavenging of oxygen and chlorine. In addition, it is proposed that achieving 6% of tensile elongation will be adequate for most PM Ti applications, compared to PM steels (normally < 2%), PM aluminium alloys (mostly < 4%) and the requirements for wrought Ti-6Al-4V armour plates (≥ 6%). This will allow the use of HDH Ti powder that contains relatively high oxygen (~0.35wt.%) and direct more efforts towards improving other properties.

Pathways to Optimize Performance/Cost Ratio of Powder Metallurgy Titanium – A Perspective

Powder Metallurgy (PM) Titanium has great potentials as low-cost alternative for Ti manufacturing, but the use of conventional PM processes for producing Ti products is also limited due to reasons related to either that the properties are not as satisfactory as that of equivalent wrought materials, or the cost advantage is not as significant as it was expected. Therefore, the main challenge of developing PM Ti is to increase performance to cost ratio. Reduction of costs and improvement of final products must involve every step of the entire process. This article attempts to assemble a set of processes by selecting individual unit processes that when combined synergistically could offer the optimum performance to cost ratio. This set of processes include using low cost powders, using automatable near-net-shape compaction techniques, and using sintering using sintering technologies that can produce parts with very fine grain sizes, thus satisfactory mechanical properties, in as-sintered state.

Understanding the Biocompatibility of Sintered Calcium Phosphate with Ratio of [Ca]/[P] = 1.50

Biocompatibility of sintered calcium phosphate pellets with [Ca]/[P] = 1.50 was determined in this study. Calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) phase formed on the sintered pellets immersed in a normal saline solution for 14 d at 37∘C. The intensities of hydroxyapatite (HA) reflections in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the pellets were retrieved to as-sintered state. The pellet surface morphology shows that CPP crystallites were clearly present and make an amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) to discriminate against become to the area of slice join together. In addition, the intensities of the CPP reflections in the XRD patterns were the highest when the pellets were immersed for 28 d. When the CPP powders were extracted from the pellets after immersion in the solution for 14 d, the viability of 3T3 cells remained above 90% for culture times from 1 to 4 d. The pellet surface morphology observed using optical microscopy showed that the cells did not adhere to the bottom of the sintered pellets when cultured for 4 d; however, some CPP phase precipitates were formed, as confirmed by XRD. In consequence, the results suggest that the sintered HA powders are good materials for use in biomedical applications because of their good biocompatibility.

Fatigue Behaviour of Case-Hardened P/M Steels

Powder-metallurgical (P/M) produced components may be used as mass parts in a very large quantity. Due to the multistage manufacturing process which consists of the pressing of the prepared powder and the sintering of the green bodies also complex shaped components can be produced very economically and precisely. They can be utilised without any further post-processing if the whole production process is optimised. However, it is still difficult and only possible with considerable technical and financial effort to produce highly stressable components profitably using the sinter technique. Therefore, the examinations on hand had the intention to create the basis for the use of the sinter technology also for the production of highly stressable case-hardened components. To this, at first bending specimens were fabricated with modern pressing procedures and sinter facilities and first characterized in the as sintered state. Then the conditions for the case-hardening was analysed and the parameters for an optimised case-hardening procedure fixed. With these parameters specimens were case-hardened and their lifetime behaviour estimated under different bending loading conditions. Finally it should be checked whether the knowledge gained from the specimens could be applied to complex components. To this, gear wheels were produced using powder-metallurgy. The cyclical tooth foot strength of this gear wheels were analysed in the only sintered as well as in the case-hardened state. It could be demonstrated that the improvement of the fatigue strength of the bending specimens by case-hardening also appears at the tooth foot strength of the gear wheels.