Apex Advanced Technologies Overview of Advanced
Lubrication/Binder Technology
Dennis Hammond
President Apex Advanced Technologies
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could improve green strength and be a good lubricant at the same time
Enhancer St
• Modified polymer, surface treated with a lubricant
• Works 5.5 to 6.9g/cc range
• Lubricant portion allows for slippage/polymer for metal particle interlock
2008
908
1616
1627
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Slide Force
Green Strength
Green Strength - PSI Slide Force - Lbs. Force
Ametek 316L Stainless Steel
1.5% Enhancer ST
1.5% Acrawax
80% Increase
20% Decrease
3
4
1167
646
1058
1098
963
1186
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Slide Force
Green Strength
Green Strength - PSI Slide Force - Lbs. Force
FC 0208 with Atomet 1001 Density: 6.2 g/cc
1.00% Enhancer ST
.75% Enhancer ST
.75% Zinc Stearate
84% Increase
70% Increase
17% Decrease
9% Decrease
Graph - C
5
1316
909
1117
1420
1075
1609
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Slide Force
Green Strength
Green Strength - PSI Slide Force - Lbs. Force
FC 0208 with Atomet 1001 Density: 6.4 g/cc
1.00% Enhancer ST
.75% Enhancer ST
.75% Zinc Stearate
77% Increase
56% Increase
15% Decrease
18% Decrease
Graph - D
6
1733
1338
1283
2115
1125
2262
0 1000 2000 3000
Slide Force
Green Strength
Green Strength - PSI Slide Force - Lbs. Force
FC 0208 with Atomet 1001 Density: 6.7 g/cc
1.00% Enhancer ST
.75% Enhancer ST
.75% Zinc Stearate
69% Increase
58% Increase
35% Decrease
26% Decrease
Graph - E
1632
1231
746
2404
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Slide Force
Green Strength
Green Strength - PSI Slide Force - Lbs. Force
Copper U.S. Bronze Cu194 to Maximize Green Strength
1% Enhancer ST
.375 LiSt/.375 ZnSt
95% Increase
54% Decrease
7
Apex Advanced Technologies
MATERIAL = FC-0208 (Density = 6.7 g/cc)
Molding Pressure / % Lube Curve
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
36
Mo
ldin
g P
ress
ure
, TS
I
Apex Enhancer St 26 26 26 26
Acrawax 31 31 32 34
0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.75%
Prepared by Product Assurance Services, Inc.
% Lube
Apex Advanced Technologies
MATERIAL = FC-0208 (Density = 6.7 g/cc)
Peak Ejection / % Lube Curve
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
Eje
ctio
n F
orc
e, lb
f
Apex Enhancer St 1804 1697 1584 1635
Acrawax 1921 1730 1766 1573
0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.75%
Prepared by Product Assurance Services, Inc.
% Lube
Apex Advanced Technologies
MATERIAL = FC-0208 (Density = 6.7 g/cc)
Slide Ejection / % Lube Curve
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
Eje
ctio
n F
orc
e, lb
f
Apex Enhancer St 1075 1025 950 950
Acrawax 1450 1400 1350 1250
0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.75%
Prepared by Product Assurance Services, Inc.
% Lube
Apex Advanced Technologies
MATERIAL = FC-0208 (Density = 6.7 g/cc)
Green Strength / % Lube Curve
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
Gre
en S
tren
gth
, psi
Apex Enhancer St 1541 1651 1794 1803
Acrawax 1382 1313 1352 1255
0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.75%
Prepared by Product Assurance Services, Inc.
% Lube
Apex Advanced Technologies
MATERIAL = FC-0208 (Density = 6.7 g/cc)
% Green Spring / % Lube Curve
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
0.20
0.22
% G
reen
Sp
rin
g
Apex Enhancer St 0.12 0.13 0.12 0.12
Acrawax 0.20 0.19 0.20 0.19
0.40% 0.50% 0.60% 0.75%
Prepared by Product Assurance Services, Inc.
% Lube
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could make high density parts without complications of hot/warm compaction and without additional equipment cost?
Apex Superlube®
• Lubricant transforms in the press to a viscous liquid, 0.1 g/cc increase over hot/warm compaction
• Low use rate, the compressibility of base metal with additions control final part green density, calculate formulas with predictability
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could make large/complicated parts with the same ease of making small parts?
Apex Superlube®
• Lubricant transforms in the press to a viscous liquid, parts ride on film of liquid during ejection, low ejection forces, calculated formulas, compaction TSI reduced by as much as 27%
• Parts as large as ~4.1 kg
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could make Fe3P (0.45% P ) parts or other highly abrasive mix with minimal die wear, election problems and at high density, without gradients and distortion after sintering?
Apex Superlube®
• Lubricant transforms in the press to a viscous liquid, parts ride on film of liquid during ejection, low ejection forces, calculated formulas, compaction TSI reduced, used in conjunction with Apex Enhancer St
• Parts as large as 0.45Kg ,parts as high as 7.3 g/cc green density
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could make parts that have no density gradients and eliminate taper, weak points and distortion upon sintering?
Apex Superlube® • Lubricant transforms in the press to a viscous
liquid, semi- hydrostatic formula possible by calculation, 7.1g/cc or greater necessary for gradient elimination
• Example part 7.17g/cc 55mm tall 0.45%P composition sintered to 7.4 with no distortion
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could be used to make copper infiltrated parts, that are stronger, use significantly less copper, have less distortion after sintering and can achieve higher densities than normal copper infiltrated parts?
Apex Superlube® • Lubricant transforms in the press to a viscous liquid, semi-
hydrostatic formula possible by calculation, 7.1g/cc or greater necessary
• Copper follows small pores from lubricant movement • Iron is substituted for copper yielding higher density in the
green part
Cost Effective Copper Infiltration
• 6.6g/cc conventional to 7.4g/cc verses Apex 7.15 to 7.4 g/cc 69% savings in the copper usage
• 6.8g/cc conventional To 7.4g/cc verses Apex 7.15 to 7.4g/cc 58% saving in copper usage
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could be used to make Nickel based parts and not have blistering problems on the parts after sintering?
Apex Superlube® • Apex Superlube®has a decomposition temperature
range that is significantly wider than conventional lubricants
• Typical formulations use less overall lube content less gas to come out of the part
• Apex Superlube® leaves open pores at the surface to allow gas to come out of the part without blowing holes
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
• A Lubricant could be used to eliminate staining on the surface of parts?
Apex Superlube® • Apex Superlube®has a decomposition temperature
range that is significantly wider than conventional lubricants
• Typical formulations use less overall lube content less gas to come out of the part
• Apex Superlube® does not leave pools of melted lubricant on the surface of the part during sintering, which is the fundamental cause of staining.
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
Manganese could be used make harder, stronger P/M parts? Apex Superlube® HPA/Mn/ 0104 •
HPA/Mn/0104 effective method to add Mn to P/M formulations to increase hardenability. 0.5-0.75% effective
• No interference with compressibility • Works on all furnaces except Endo gas • Increase hardenability on heat treated parts • Lower alloy content on sinter Hardened
formulations
Have you ever thought it would be great if:
You could make near full density parts that could compete with forgings, castings, and machining? Apex Superlube® NFD technology • Densities above ≥97% of theory • Net shaped hard steel alloys, S.S, Electromagnets
Near full density Process Overview
• Standard water atomized powder, pre-alloyed and straight iron
• Special additive/lubricant master batch
• Conventional blending, standard tooling and conventional pressing
• Part pressing controlled to mass
• Compaction range ≥50 TSI
• Modified de-binding, controlled temperature, time, and atmosphere
Process Overview Cont.
• Modified sintering heat up rate and/or high temperature
• Sintering atmosphere can be low % hydrogen or vacuum
• Heat treating similar to conventional wrought
• Sintered densities >96%; up to 99+
Stainless Steels Near full density
• Material G.D S.D. Corrosion 5% salt
• 316L 6.76 7.8 0% 744 Hr
• 17-4Ph 6.23 7.6 0% 744 Hr
• 409CB 6.58 7.55 0% 744 Hr
Summary
• Apex Superlube® and Enhancer St can solve numerous costly problems
• There can be large cost savings by substituting Iron for Copper in Copper infiltration
• Apex Superlube® can out perform hot/warm compaction with no capital investment and at lower cost
• New markets can be addressed, P/M can compete with MIM, forging and casting