Consolidation and shaping of grade powders is carried out using several methods, depending on the size, complexity, shape, and quantity of parts required. This article details the powder consolidation methods of carbide powders: uniaxial pressing, cold isostatic pressing, extrusion, green machining, and injection molding.

This article provides an overview of the compaction of metal powder in a rigid die and reviews the compaction characteristics of stainless steel powders, including green density, compressibility, green strength, apparent density, flow rate, and sintered density. It describes the influence of compaction characteristics of stainless steel powders in tool materials selection, lubrication, annealing, double pressing/double sintering, and warm compaction.

This article describes several factors, which help in determining the compressibility of metal powders: particle shape, density, composition, hardness, particle size, lubrication, and compacting. It discusses the uses of annealing metal powders and describes compressibility testing of the powders. The article details green strength and its mechanism and the variables affecting the strength. It also discusses two test methods for determining the green strength: the Rattler test and the transverse bend test.

This article describes procedures for producing powder metallurgy high-speed tool steel powder by inert-gas atomization, followed by compaction by hot isostatic pressing. These include the anti-segregation process (ASP) and the crucible particle metallurgy (CPM) process. The article reviews the properties of ASP and CPM and summarizes the procedures to heat treat ASP high-speed tool steels. It discusses the processing steps, advantages, and applications of the FULDENS process that uses water-atomized powders compacted by vacuum sintering. The article also provides information on the applications of tool steels.

Power metallurgy (PM) is a process of shaping metal powders into near-net or net shape parts combined with densification or consolidation processes for the development of final material and design properties. This article introduces the general considerations, models, and applications in the modeling of PM processes. It describes the PM process in terms of powder compaction and sintering. The article schematically illustrates powder injection molding for the production of plastic parts and describes PM process models such as discrete-element model (DEM), linear continuum model, and nonlinear continuum model. It concludes with information on the application of press and sinter modeling to practical problems in PM.