Si₃N₄ particle-reinforced 316L stainless steel prepared by powder injection molding

Si₃N₄ particle-reinforced 316L stainless steel composites were prepared by powder injection molding(PIM) using water-soluble binders.It is shown that a water-soluble binder mainly consisting of polyoxymethylene(PEG),polyvinyl butyral(PVB) and stearic acid(SA) exhibits a better water-soluble degreasing performance.After degreasing injection parts in water for 6 h,the total binder removal rate is 55% and the PEG removal rate is 78.6%.The sintered composites have a uniform microstructure and excellent properties with a relative density of 95.2%,a hardness of HRB 79.8 and a tensile strength of 620 MPa.And the hardness and tensile strength are 5% and 20.4% higher than the Si₃N₄ particle-reinforced 316L stainless steel produced by PIM with a paraffin wax-based binder,respectively.