What is the purpose of copper infiltration into a PM component, and how is it accomplished?
Components are copper infiltrated for a number of reasons. Some basic desired results are improvements to tensile strength, hardness, impact properties, and ductility. Copper-infiltrated components will also have a higher density. Other reasons customers may elect copper infiltration are for wear improvement or to block air/gas flow through an otherwise porous component at temperatures that a resin may not be practical. Sometimes copper infiltration is used…