Comparative study of pore structure evolution during solvent and thermal debinding of powder injection molded parts

The solvent debinding process has been widely accepted in the powder injection molding (PIM) industry due to its short debinding cycle. In the current study, specimens were immersed in a heptane bath for different lengths of time, and the pore structure evolvement in the compact was analyzed. Mercury porosimetry analyses and scanning electron micrographs showed that the binder extraction started from the surface and progressed toward the center of the compacts. As the debinding continued, the pores grew and were widely distributed in size. This pore structure evolvement was different from that of straight thermal debinding in which the pore size distribution was quite narrow and the mean pore diameter shifted toward smaller sizes as debinding time increased. After the soluble binders were extracted, parts were subjected to a subsequent thermal debinding during which these pores served as conduits for decomposed gas to escape. Concurrently, the remaining binder became fluidlike and was redistributed within the compact due to capillarity. This pore structure, as observed from the mercury intrusion curves, showed a sharp increase in the pore volume at the 0.8-mu m size, followed by a series of fine pores, which is different from the pore structure of straight thermal debinding. The difference in the pore structure evolvement between solvent and thermal debinding and its effect on the debinding rate are discussed.