New premixes with improved lubrication system
Paul Skoglund, Hoganas (China) Co Ltd

In search of new applications for PM components, the industry has a need for ever higher performing lubricants in metal powder mixes.  Over the years, several different paths have been taken to improve performance of mixes. Examples are bonded mixes, mixes for warm compaction and more recently mixes for use with heated tooling. Besides good lubrication during compaction there are several requirements on high performance mixes, such as stable powder behaviour in terms of filling the tool, stability to variations in temperature and humidity and environmental friendly.

Some newly developed lubricants exhibit improved properties in key areas such as climate robustness, lubrication and the possibility to boost compaction performance by using heated tooling during compaction. Moreover these new lubricants are Zn-free, thus minimizing environmental impact and the need for sintering furnace maintenance. The results of extensive testing of these new lubricant systems will be described in this paper.