The powder metallurgy (PM) process is a relatively efficient and economic process that can be used to produce high quantities of aluminum components with a reasonable degree of precision and finds application in camshaft bearing cap (cam cap) production. The article discusses the production steps involved in cam cap manufacturing: powder production, compaction, sintering, repressing, and heat treatment. In addition, it reviews the R&D work involved in improving the structural properties of emerging aluminum alloy systems.

Aluminum powders can be formed into components by several competing technologies, including powder metallurgy (PM), metal injection molding, powder forging, and additive manufacturing. This article explores PM methodologies that are being exploited to manufacture such components. It reviews emerging technologies that promise to offer exciting ways to produce aluminum parts. The article discusses the various steps involved in PM, such as powder production, compaction, sintering, repressing, and heat treatment. It provides information on aluminum production statistics and the wear-resistance applications of PM.

This article reviews various segments of the powder metallurgy (PM) process from powder production and powder processing through the characterization of the materials and their properties. It covers the processing methods for consolidating metal powders including options for processing to full density. The article outlines the freeform fabrication process, also known as additive manufacturing and describes finishing operations of PM parts. It concludes with information on the applications of PM parts.

In addition to failures in shafts, this article discusses failures in connecting rods, which translate rotary motion to linear motion (and conversely), and in piston rods, which translate the action of fluid power to linear motion. It begins by discussing the origins of fracture. Next, the article describes the background information about the shaft used for examination. Then, it focuses on various failures in shafts, namely bending fatigue, torsional fatigue, axial fatigue, contact fatigue, wear, brittle fracture, and ductile fracture. Further, the article discusses the effects of distortion and corrosion on shafts. Finally, it discusses the types of stress raisers and the influence of changes in shaft diameter.

This article discusses failures in shafts such as connecting rods, which translate rotary motion to linear motion, and in piston rods, which translate the action of fluid power to linear motion. It describes the process of examining a failed shaft to guide the direction of failure investigation and corrective action. Fatigue failures in shafts, such as bending fatigue, torsional fatigue, contact fatigue, and axial fatigue, are reviewed. The article provides information on the brittle fracture, ductile fracture, distortion, and corrosion of shafts. Abrasive wear and adhesive wear of metal parts are also discussed. The article concludes with a discussion on the influence of metallurgical factors and fabrication practices on the fatigue properties of materials, as well as the effects of surface coatings.

Powder metallurgy (PM) has been called a lost art. Long before furnaces were developed that could approach the melting point of metal, PM principles were used. This article provides an overview of the major historical developments of various methods of platinum powder production. The development of production methods took place in various phases starting from prehistoric time, post-war period, to recent and commercial period. The article discusses the powder metallurgy of platinum, as well as the commercial and post-war developments of PM. Literature and trade associations are also discussed.

This article describes the physical properties of powder metallurgy (PM) stainless steels. These include thermal diffusivity, conductivity, thermal expansion coefficient, Poisson's ratio, and elastic modulus. The article contains a table that lists the characteristics of various grades of PM stainless steels. It discusses the applications of various PM stainless steels such as rearview mirror brackets, anti-lock brake system sensor rings, and automotive exhaust flanges and sensor bosses.

A wide variety of stop-off technologies for heat treatment are used to selectively prevent the diffusion of carbon and/or nitrogen during atmosphere carburizing, carbonitriding, vacuum carburizing, and various forms of nitriding. In addition to selective stop-off, technologies are also available for scale prevention in open-fired furnaces. This article describes two stop-off technologies, mechanical masking and copper plating, along with stop-off paints/compounds. Prior to the application of stop-off paints, the part surface of the furnaces should be properly cleaned and dried. The article also describes the usage of stop-off paints in different heat treating processes, namely, carburizing and carbonitriding, deep carburizing, vacuum carburizing, nitriding and nitrocarburizing, and plasma nitriding. The article concludes by reviewing the application methods of stop-off paints: brushing, dipping, dispensing, spraying and stamping.

Cold heading is typically a high-speed process where a blank is progressively moved through a multi-station machine. This article discusses various cold heading process parameters, such as upset length ratio, upset diameter ratio, upset strain, and process sequence design. It describes the various components of a cold-heading machine and the tools used in the cold heading process. These include headers, transfer headers, bolt makers, nut formers, and parts formers. The article explains the operations required for preparing stock for cold heading, including heat treating, drawing to size, machining, descaling, cutting to length, and lubricating. It lists the advantages of the cold heading over machining. Materials selection criteria for dies and punches in cold heading are also described. The article provides examples that demonstrate tolerance capabilities and show dimensional variations obtained in production runs of specific cold-headed products. It concludes with a discussion on the applications of warm heading.

Bars, structural shapes, and long parts are straightened by bending, twisting, or stretching. This article describes the straightening of bars, shapes, and long parts by material displacement, heating, and presses. It explains the process of parallel-roll straightening, automatic press roll straightening, moving-insert straightening, parallel-rail straightening, and epicyclic straightening. The article concludes with a discussion on straightening in bar production.

This article is an informative primer on sealants and the role they play in engineered assemblies. It discusses the physical, thermal, chemical, and electrical properties of sealant materials and the various forms in which they are applied, including liquids, pastes, and extruded tapes. It also describes classifications and types, comparing and contrasting sealants made from oil-based caulks, asphalts, coal tar resins, latex acrylic sealants, polyvinyl acetate caulks, solvent acrylics, butyl sealants, polysulfides, polyurethanes, modified silicones, anaerobics, vinyl plastisols, and polypropylenes. In addition, the article provides practical design insight, addressing application requirements, seal configurations, and joint stresses. It concludes with a brief discussion on the use of sealants in aerospace, automotive, electrical, and construction applications.

This article focuses on the types, composition, and applications of phosphate coatings and describes the characteristics of phosphate-coated ferrous and nonferrous materials, including steel and aluminum. It addresses five successive process fundamentals: cleaning, rinsing, phosphating, rinsing after phosphating, and chromic acid rinsing. The article describes the techniques for controlling the chemical composition of various phosphating solutions. It discusses the equipment and factors that influence equipment requirements in immersion and spray systems. The article also describes the controlling procedures of coating weight and crystal size. It provides guidelines for choosing phosphate coatings based on application, coating weight requirements, and recommended process parameters. The article concludes with a discussion on safety precautions and the treatment of effluents from phosphating plants.

This article summarizes some of the effects of the major alloying elements in low-alloy steels and the heat treating for some common types of low-alloy steels. Coverage includes common alloys of the following low-alloy steel types: low-alloy manganese steels, low-alloy molybdenum steels, low-alloy chromium-molybdenum steels, low-alloy nickel-chromium-molybdenum steels, low-alloy nickel-molybdenum steels, low-alloy chromium steels, low-alloy chromium-vanadium steels, and low-alloy silicon-manganese steels. The article reviews heat treating parameters and processing considerations for each category of steel, including spherodizing, normalizing, annealing, hardening, and tempering.

The term cast iron designates a group of materials that contain more than one constituent in their microstructure due to excess carbon that result in unique characteristics such as the fracture appearance and graphite morphology. This article discusses the classification of cast iron and the various metallurgical aspects, such as the composition, alloying element, solidification, and graphite morphologies, of different types of cast iron. It describes the physical properties for various cast irons and the influence of microstructure and chemical composition on each property. The article provides a detailed account on thermal properties, conductive properties, magnetic properties, and acoustic properties of cast iron. It also examines heat treatment, namely, stress relieving, annealing, normalizing, through hardening, and surface hardening. The article presents a discussion on the welding, machining and grinding, and coating of the types of cast iron.