Hot Pressing
Hot pressing is a manufacturing process where pressure and heat energy are simultaneously applied to create solid materials from raw powders. Powders used for hot pressing are typically dried, free of polymeric binders, and can be easily blended prior to processing in order to customize end material properties. Hot pressing often melts or sinters the powders directly into a high-density ceramic or refractory material. Pressing pressures range from 30 to 200 tons and temperatures from room temperature to 2200C. Our hot-pressing process uses customized graphite tooling to create materials close to near net shape, therefore requiring minimal diamond grinding to meet print requirements. Mold release agents are sometimes used to improve near net shape component ejection from pressing tooling.
Product Benefits
Produces near net shape advanced ceramic and refractor materials directly from ours or customer supplied powders.
- Powders used for hot pressing do not require adding binders or dispersants for processing.
- Dense ceramic components can be made at 99% density with no interconnected porosity.
- Process optimization is quick due to short process cycle times that enable running many samples in a single shift.
FAST AND RELIABLE SERVICE
Our press line located at our headquarters consists of multiple presses of increasingly larger capacity for optimum process flexibility. Our internal mold engineering and manufacturing capabilities reduce press tool cycle time, therefore enabling us to provide near net shape parts quickly and reliably.
Our many years of hot-pressing tooling and processing experience can be leveraged to produce tooling and molds that work correctly the first time.