Indo-US MIM Tec Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India, earned a grand prize at PowderMet 2013 in the automotive engine category for a sensing element, a threaded port, and a support ring made for Sensata Technologies Holland B.V., Almelo, the Netherlands. Fabricated via MIM of 17‐4 PH stainless steel, the parts have a heat‐treated yield strength of 160,000 psi and ultimate tensile strength of 178,000 psi. They are used in a sensor kit that measures the inlet pressure of the air-fuel mixture in each cylinder of a passenger car engine.
The length of the threaded port creates complexity, as do the thin walls and fragile features, and the stringent customer requirements on visual aspects add to the difficulty of fabrication. Made of MIM‐ 17‐4 PH stainless steel, they have 7% elongation, 35-40 HRC hardness range, and 7.6 g/cm³ density. The parts are formed close to net shape, with only coining and passivation required on all three, plus CNC thread cutting on the port only.
This new application is estimated to save the customer 50% over the cost of fabrication by alternate technologies.
