Powder metallurgy gears are commonly used in various automobile engines, and although they are very cost-effective in large quantities, there is still room for improvement in other aspects. Let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of powder metallurgy gears.

PM Process Advantages:

1. Generally, there are fewer manufacturing processes for powder metallurgy gears.

2. When using powder metallurgy to manufacture gears, the material utilization rate can reach over 95%.

3. Powder metallurgy gears have excellent repeatability. Since powder metallurgy gears are formed by mold pressing, under normal operating conditions, a pair of molds can press tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of gear blanks.

4. The powder metallurgy process can integrate several parts.

5. The material density of powder metallurgy gears is controllable.

6. During powder metallurgy production, the roughness of the mold working surface is very good for easy removal of the pressed blanks.

PM Process Disadvantages:

1. Mass production is required. Generally, batches of 5,000 or more are suitable for production with powder metallurgy technology.

2. The size is limited by the pressing capacity of the press. The press generally ranges from several tons to several hundred tons of pressure, and the diameter is usually within 110mm for powder metallurgy.

3. Powder metallurgy gears are limited by their structure. Due to pressing and mold reasons, helical gears with a worm, internal tooth gears, and bevel gears with a helix angle greater than 35° are generally not suitable for production. It is generally recommended to design the helical teeth to be within 15 degrees.

4. The thickness of powder metallurgy gears is limited. The mold cavity depth and press stroke must be 2-2.5 times the thickness of the gear. At the same time, considering the uniformity of the longitudinal density of the gear height, the thickness of the powder metallurgy gears is also important.

What is Powder Metallurgy?

It is a manufacturing process for producing metal materials, composite materials, and various types of products using metals or metal powders (or mixtures of metal powders and non-metal powders) as raw materials, through forming and sintering. The broad powder metallurgy industry includes ironstone cutting tools, hard alloys, magnetic materials, and powder metallurgy products. The narrow powder metallurgy industry refers only to powder metallurgy products, including powder metallurgy parts (which account for the vast majority), oil-impregnated bearings, and metal injection molded products.

Process characteristics:

1. The density of the product can be controlled, such as porous materials and good density materials.

2. Fine grain size, uniform microscopic structure, and no component segregation.

3. Near-net shape forming, the utilization rate of raw materials is more than 95%.

4. Less cutting, machining only accounts for 40-50%.

5. The material composition can be controlled, which is beneficial for preparing composite materials.

6. Production of refractory metals, ceramic materials, and nuclear materials is possible.