Research Progress on Powder Injection Molding in Malaysia-A Review

Abstract

In this era, parts complexity, dimensional accuracy, and cost-effectiveness are one of the basic requirements of the modern industry. Most of the conventional manufacturing techniques have failed to fulfill the industry’s needs. Powder injection molding (PIM) started in the early 70s, which is a combination of powder metallurgy and plastic injection molding that fulfills the gaps in conventional manufacturing techniques. In Malaysia, PIM was introduced by SIRIM Sdn Bhd Malaysia in late 2000. The latter few universities started working on PIM. Among all universities, the Advanced Functional Materials Research (AFM) group at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) started to work in 2008 under the direction of Prof. F. Ahmad and was decided to target various industries and their latest requirements. The work completed during the past 11 years has been published in various high-quality international journals, secure intellectual property (IP), i.e., trademarks, patents, a pre-commercialization grant from the government, one commercialization agreement, and signed a technology licensing agreement. They also worked on carbon Nanotube reinforced copper nanocomposite for thermal management and secured two patents. This project was commercialized for heat sink materials for LED Lights. The group is also working on controlling the orientation of fibers in the metal matrix to enhance thermal conductivity. Moreover, grafting graphene on metal oxide for its potential use as a radiation shielding material is one of the noble works. Currently, the group is working on the fabrication of soft magnetic material with enhanced permeability for potential use in hearing Aids, electric motors, and several other applications. Besides, bio-medical parts like a dental screw, biomedical material of 316L SS reinforced by nano Titanium and additive manufacturing by using ultra-fused BASF 316L SS parts made through FDM represent the scope of works in PIM.