Powder Metallurgy

Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes are sometimes used to reduce or eliminate the need for subtractive processes in manufacturing, lowering material losses and reducing the cost of the final product. This occurs especially often with small metal parts, like gears for small machines. Some porous products, allowing liquid or gas to permeate them, are produced in this way. They are also used when melting a material is impractical, due to it having a high melting point, or an alloy of two mutually insoluble materials, such as a mixture of copper and graphite.