Fabrication of WC-Co cutting tool by powder injection molding

In this work, a cutting tool for sand-mold milling was fabricated by powder injection molding (PIM) technology using 90WC-10Co alloy powder for machining sand molds in patternless sand-casting technology. The work included design of cutting tool tip, injection mold and binder system. Also, for the PIM process, mixing, injection molding, debinding and sintering process were investigated experimentally. Finally, the properties for final products were tested, such as micro structures, element composition, wear resistance and so on. The cutting tool fabricated by PIM had a final density of 14.21 g/cm 3 (95% of theoretical density) and a dimension accuracy over 98%. Also, in sand-mold machining test, it showed an abrasion loss of 0.16 mm after working for 3 hrs. The results showed that a whole cutting tool was fabricated using PIM technology successfully, and it showed out good mechanical performances.