Statistical Analysis of Binder Behavior during Debinding Step in Powder Injection Molding (PIM)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose the approach for applying statistical methods (linear regression and statistical hypothesis testing) to study the behavior of binder during binder removing (debinding) step in powder injection molding (PIM) and also the parameters that affect the binder removing rate. In this work, the binder system under the investigation is the composite binder of 85wt% polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 15 wt% poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) where PEG can be removed from the green product by using warm water while PMMA is removed later during sintering. At 0.05 level of significance, the linear regression method and the statistical hypothesis test prove that the dissolution behavior of PEG can be described using Avarami equation. Furthermore, the dissolution rates of PEG were independent of all parameters used in this study including binder contents in the green products, temperatures, and powder sizes.