*** 9760106 Bates This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a new binder that will allow powder metal injection molding (MIM) of reactive metal parts. Parts made of reactive metals such as titanium are already made extensively using powder metallurgy, but many valuable metals are so reactive at high temperature that currently available binders will react with and contaminate the part during MIM processing. The new binder will be explored for the conditions of its formation as well as for its physical and debinding characteristics. Binder properties, the binder/powder ratio, the mixing procedure, the injection molding process, and the debinding process will be explored experimentally to optimize the process using titanium as the reactive metal powder. Molding and debinding will be demonstrated and the green strength of the parts measured. Some sintering will be attempted to show the effectiveness of the process. Potential commercial applications of reactive metal injection molding are expected in the powder metallurgy industry, leading to the availability of more complex reactive metal parts in the many applications where they have major advantages. ***
