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Abstract
Polymer burnout (pyrolysis or delubrication) is a crucial step in sintering die compacted powders. To systematically analyse and design the thermal delubrication step, the master decomposition curve (MDC) has been formulated based on the intrinsic kinetics of polymer pyrolysis. The Kissinger method was used to estimate the activation energy from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) experiments. The activation energy of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) was determined and an MDC analysis was performed to map the weight loss of the polymer as a function of time and temperature. The developed MDC was used to investigate the effects of powder chemistry, powder shape, and particle size of 316L stainless steel on the decomposition behaviour of EVA. The activation energies for decomposition of EVA decreased in the presence of gas and water atomised 316L stainless steel powders, indicative of a catalytic effect. This effect was more pronounced for the first decomposition step suggesting the possible role of a carboxylate ion – metal transition state complex that promoted decomposition. In addition, the gas atomised 316L stainless steel had a greater effect on lowering the activation energy for decomposition compared to water atomised 316L stainless steel, emphasising the influence of powder surface chemistries. Based on the MDC analysis, the required hold time can be predicted for a given temperature and target binder weight loss. This reduces the experimentation required to optimise the delubrication cycle. Furthermore, when extrapolating to very small particle sizes, this approach is of particular interest for predicting the behaviour of nano-particulate materials.