A High-Precision Manufacturing Process for Small, Complex Metal Parts
Metal injection molding (MIM) combines plastic injection molding and powder metallurgy to manufacture small, complex metal parts efficiently and in high volumes. The process enables greater design flexibility and allows multiple components to be integrated into a single precision part.
Metal injection molding turns metal powder and binders into moldable feedstock. Through injection, debinding, and sintering, it creates strong, complex parts with high precision. This process is ideal for efficient mass production.
Metal powders are blended with thermoplastics and wax-based binders to form a uniform pelletized feedstock. This material flows like plastic during injection molding, yet offers the strength and density of metal. The process enables near theoretical density (up to 98–99.5%) and tight dimensional control, which are difficult to achieve through conventional powder metallurgy.
The feedstock is heated and injected into a mold cavity at high pressure to form detailed and complex part shapes. This step enables efficient, high-volume production with consistent results. The molded component, known as the green part, is intentionally oversized by about 16.5% to allow for dimensional shrinkage during sintering, especially for stainless steels like 304 and 316.
In this stage, most of the binder is carefully removed from the green part using thermal or solventbased methods. This step creates a porous structure known as the brown part, which retains its shape and prepares the component for final densification during sintering.
In this final step, the fragile brown part is heated to a temperature close to the melting point of the metal. The binder is completely removed, and the metal particles fuse together, increasing the part’s density and mechanical strength. This results in a finished component with excellent dimensional stability and structural integrity.
MIM is ideal for creating compact, intricate parts at scale with excellent performance.
Key capabilities of our metal injection molding process include
We support a wide range of metal powders suitable for MIM production, including.
| Characteristics | Metal injection molding | powder metallurgy | die casting (zinc, aluminum) | Precision casting | Mechanical processing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Shape complexity |
High |
Low |
High |
Medium |
High |
|
Minimum thickness |
0.5mm |
1mm |
0.8mm |
2mm |
0.15mm |
|
Surface roughness |
1 μ m Ra thin |
Thick |
Medium |
5 μ m Ra Medium |
thin |
|
Mechanical strength |
High |
Medium |
Low |
Medium |
High |
|
Materials selection |
Large |
Medium |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
|
Density |
98~99.5% |
<95% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
Precision |
Medium |
High |
Medium |
Medium |
High |
|
Electroplating |
Good |
Low |
Medium |
Good |
Good |
|
Mass production |
High |
High |
High |
Medium |
Low |
|
Cost |
Medium |
Low |
Medium |
Medium |
High |
See how our equipment and engineering team bring complex metal parts to life, from prototyping to full scale production.
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