Precision Micro-Components: Metal Injection Molding Technology Implementation Cases

In high-end manufacturing fields such as medical devices and automotive electronics, the precision, strength, and mass production capabilities of micro-precision components directly determine product competitiveness. Metal Injection Molding (MIM) technology, with its combined advantages of powder metallurgy and injection molding, boasts high precision, high material utilization, and low cost, making it the preferred solution for manufacturing micro-precision components. Its robust capabilities have been demonstrated in numerous industry implementation cases.

The high demands of the medical field provide an excellent platform for MIM technology. One company's hearing aid tube manufacturing was previously hampered by the limitations of traditional processes—complex component structures requiring guaranteed acoustic transmission efficiency and stringent dimensional tolerances. By adopting MIM technology, stainless steel powder was used as raw material, and the process involved mixing, injection molding, debinding, and sintering in a single step. Only one glass bead blasting treatment was needed to achieve the required surface finish. The finished product achieved a density of 7.65 g/cm³, a tensile strength of 480 MPa, and a 20% cost reduction compared to traditional processes, perfectly meeting the miniaturization needs of hearing aids. Even more noteworthy is the manufacturing of surgical instruments. A company's 17-4PH stainless steel surgical claws, requiring a complex gripping structure and high strength, posed a challenge in balancing precision and cost with traditional machining. MIM technology, through near-net-shape forming, achieves precise tolerance control, resulting in a finished product density exceeding 7.5 g/cm³. This eliminates the need for extensive post-processing, reducing costs by 60% compared to traditional methods, and is now widely used in minimally invasive surgical scenarios.

The lightweighting and intelligent transformation of new energy vehicles has allowed MIM technology to shine in the field of automotive micro-precision parts. In a car manufacturer's micro-planetary gear manufacturing project, traditional processes suffered from insufficient tooth profile precision and significant material waste. By adopting MIM technology, titanium alloy powder was integrally molded to achieve ISO 8 precision tooth profiles. Material utilization increased from 50% in machining to 95%, unit cost decreased by 77%, monthly production capacity reached 1 million units, and efficiency increased fivefold. In the core components of battery systems, the high-voltage battery module mounting clips need to possess both corrosion resistance and a complex internal structure. MIM (Metal Injection Molding) technology uses titanium alloy as the raw material to achieve integrated molding, replacing the traditional aluminum alloy split welding solution. This improves corrosion resistance by 3 times, reduces weight by 40%, and indirectly increases the vehicle's range by 8%.

These cases demonstrate the core advantages of MIM technology: dimensional accuracy can reach ±0.02mm, material utilization exceeds 90%, and the overall cost in mass production is reduced by 30%-50% compared to traditional processes. From micron-level parts in the medical field to lightweight components in the automotive industry, MIM technology breaks the curse of "high precision and low cost being mutually exclusive" for micro-precision parts. With material innovation and process optimization, this technology will undoubtedly take root in more high-end manufacturing fields, propelling the manufacturing of micro-precision parts towards a new stage of higher precision and lower cost.