Effects of powder spheroidization treatment on properties of metal injection molding pure copper

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles and communication technologies, the demand for high-performance copper thermal conductive components is increasing. Manufacturing copper thermal conductive components with complex structures by metal injection molding is one of the most optimal solutions. In this paper, water-atomized copper powder with an average particle size of 29.75 µm is used as raw material, and the effect of spheroidization treatment on the properties of copper powder, such as morphology, particle size, apparent density, and tap density, is studied, as well as the effect on the metal injection molding. The results show that the properties of copper powder treated at 960 r/min were significantly improved compared with those of untreated copper powder, with the average particle size reduced by 27.4%, the sphericity increased by 7.6%, the surface roughness reduced by 30.7%, and the apparent density and tap density increased by 18.8% and 3.2%, respectively. The powder loading rate of the feedstock reached 60%, and the flow behavior index and flow activation energy of the feedstock were the lowest, with good rheological properties. The sintered densification of the sample reached 98.1%, which was 2.4% higher than that of the untreated copper powder.