Smooth Surfaces by Green Part Processing in ColdMetalFusion

The ColdMetalFusion process is a sinter-based metal Additive Manufacturing technology which aims to enable part fabrication in production quantities. The individual process steps are identical to Metal Injection Molding (MIM): green part formation, debinding and sintering. In contrast to MIM however, the material is a powdery feedstock developed, which can be processed on standard plastic selective laser sintering (SLS) systems. As the process chain is similar to MIM, the mechanical properties are also fully comparable.Due to the high stability of the green parts, the surface can be post-processed in green part state before sintering. Standard processes like grinding, blasting and machining can be used, which saves time and cost. Surface roughness of Ra of 1 µm and below can be achieved by cost-efficient post-processing methods. As the formidable component is the polymer binder, the effectiveness, duration and wear are independent of the metal.