EPMA
hosts
2016
PM
World
Congress
Kenneth
J.A.
Brookes
§MPRConsultantEditor
Awards
and
Global
Survey
Perhapsitwasfortuitousthat Germany,birthplaceofthe
hard-metals industry, was chosen by EPMA for WorldPM2016, the
WorldPMCongressandExhibition,whichcomestoEuropejust
onceineverysixyears.Havingmadethischoice,theEuropean
PowderMetallurgy Association certainly madethe most ofthe
occasion, with a seminar and themed dinner to celebrate the
centenaryofOsram’sinventionandKrupp–Widia’sinitial
com-mercialisation of tungsten-carbide-based hard materials. More
aboutthoselater.
Opening
Plenary
Attheopening,CongressChairmanMichaelKrehlofMSG
Con-sulting(Fig.1)andEPMAExecutiveDirectorLionelAboussouan
(Fig. 2) welcomed over 1900 participants from more than 60
countries. They would attend more than 400 oral and poster
presentationsandanimpressiveinternationalexhibition.
Awards
Therefollowedthecustomaryawardsandpresentations,thefirst
andmostimportantofwhichwenttoEPMAPast-PresidentCe´sar
Molins(Fig.3).
Distinguished
Service
EPMA’sDistinguishedServiceAwardsarepresentedinrecognition
of individuals who make an outstanding contribution to the
European PM industry over a number of years. Recipients are
selected by the EPMA Council and receive their award at the
association’sannualcongress.
Ce´sar Molins graduated as an industrial engineer from the
PolytechnicUniversityofCataloniainBarcelona,Spainand
con-tinuedhisstudiesinNuclearEngineeringSciencesattheUniversity
ofFlorida.Ce´saralsostudiedmetallurgyandenteredthePowder
MetallurgyworldatAMES,afamily-ownedcompanyco-founded
byhisfatherinBarcelona,Spain,wherehebecameGeneral
Man-agerin1985.
From the beginning of his career at AMES, Molins became
involved ininternational PM associations, presentingpapers at
PMconferencesinEurope,AmericaandAsia.
In1998hechairedthefirstWorld PMconferencefully
orga-nized by EPMA in Granada, Spain. Hebecamethe third EPMA
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FIGURE1
CongressChairmanMichaelKrehlofMSGConsulting.
§
Text,andIllustrationsofparticipants,CopyrightßKennethJABrookes 2016.
Presidentin2001aftersittingforsomeyearsontheEPMACouncil
andBoardwherehestillservestoday.Hisinternational
involve-ment brought him to the International Liaison Committee of
MPIFandhespokeonbehalfofEuropeanPMaroundtheworld.
MolinsreceivedtheIvorJenkinsawardin1998fromtheInstitute
ofMetalsintheUK,theFellowshipawardofPMAIin2011,the
DistinguishedServiceAwardoftheMPIFin2015andthe APMI
InternationalFellowshipawardin2016.Hewasastrongpromoter
oftheGlobalPMPropertyDatabase,developedduringhis
presi-dencyofEPMA.HealsochairedEPMA’sEuroPM2011Congress&
ExhibitioninBarcelona.
Under his leadership,AMES, the company he manages, has
grownto achieveas140millionturnoverwithsevenplantsin
fourcountries.
Keynotes
Seven special Keynote Paper Awards were made to the World
Congresspapersselectedashavingthehighestmerit:
DanielSchwenck,UniversityofBremen,Germany,‘Anovel
convergent-divergentannularnozzledesignforclose-coupled atom-ization.’
DominikBauer,AirbusGroupInnovations,Germany.
‘Inves-tigationsofagingbehaviorfromaluminumpowders.’
AlexanderAngre´,SwereaKIMAB,Sweden.‘Phase
transforma-tionunderisostaticpressureinHIP.’
ThomasEbel,Helmholtz-ZentrumGeesthacht,Germany.
‘Re-duction ofthe embrittlement effect of bindercontamination in
MIMprocessingofTialloys.’
Jean-MichelMissiaen,GrenobleINP,France.‘EBSDstudyof
WCgrainboundariesinWC/Coalloys.’
YuuAkiyama,SumitomoElectricSinteredAlloyLtd,Japan.
‘DevelopmentofsynchronizerhubwithhelicalgearforDCT.’
NadineEibmann,Technical University,Dresden,Germany.
‘High-entropyalloyCoCrFeMnNiproducedbypowdermetallurgy.’
Theses
The bi-annual EPMA Theses Competition also featured in the
OpeningSession,withwinningthesesfrom:
Doctoratecategory–Elena BernardoQuejido(Fig.4),
‘Opti-mizationofLiquidPhasesforSinteringLowAlloySteels:Effecton
MicrostructureandDimensionalControl’,UniversidadCarlosIII
deMadrid.
Masters category – Uriel Tradowsky (Fig. 5), ‘Selective
LaserMelting of AlSi10Mg: InfluenceofPost-Processing onthe
MicrostructureandMechanicalProperties’,TechnicalUniversity
ofBerlinandtheUniversityofBirmingham.
FIGURE2
EPMAExecutiveDirectorLionelAboussouan.
FIGURE3
EPMAPast-PresidentCe´sarMolinsreceivesthe2016DistinguishedService AwardfromthecurrentPresident,PhilippeGundermann.
FIGURE4
ElenaBernardoQuejido,winnerofthe2016EPMADoctorateThesisAward.
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Components
TheEPMA2016PowderMetallurgyComponentAwards
highlight-edtheexcellenceoftoday’sPMindustrycomponents.Winnersof
thisyear’scomponentsawardcompetitionrangedfromoneofthe
largest3Dprintedaerospaceelements,byAirbus,toaninnovative
planetarycarrierassemblyintheautomotivesectorbyStackpole:
Additive Manufacturing category – Airbus Operations
GmbH–‘Bionicpartition’(Fig.6).
HotIsostaticPressingcategory–Aubert&Duval–‘Nearnet
shapehippedAstroloycasingforhighspeedturbine’.
Metal Injection Molding category – Schunk
Sintermetall-technikGmbH–‘2C-pin’.
StructuralPM Partscategory – Stackpole Internationalin
collaborationwithZFFriedrichshafen–‘Planetarycarrierassembly
comprisingspiderandguideplate’.
Global
PM
industry
Traditionally,themostimportantfeatureoftheOpeningPlenary
isthe seriesofgeographicalpresentations,jointlyrecordingthe
stateof the global PM industry. First ofthese wasforthe host
region,givenbytheEPMAPresident.
Europe
ThebackgroundtocurrentglobalPMstatistics,explainedPhilippe
Gundermann (Fig. 7), was that commodity prices were down
(Fig. 8) and energy prices also at low levels. Nevertheless, he
sawcontinuedpositive trendsformost sectorsofthe European
PMindustry.
Figs.9and10depictEuropeanPMpartsproductionformajor
sectors,byweightandvaluerespectively.Theyshow,yetagain,
thatinEuropeatleast,ferrouspressandsinterisoverwhelmingly thelargest sectorbyweight,buthard materialsaresignificantly
moreimportantwhenvalueisconsidered.Thoughwellbelowits
previous maximum, European hard materials (mainly WC-base
hardmetal)productionseemstohavebeenstableat14,000t/afor
the lastthreeyears(2013–2015). Usage, however,maybequite
different,sincenovaluesaregivenforimportsandexports.
Unsurprisingly, commercial ‘additive manufacturing’ (3D
printing)frommetalpowdershadbeenexpandingexponentially,
thoughinageneralsensethe‘AM’expressioncouldbeemployed
for mostof the historicpowder metallurgyindustry. Wellover
2500 AM PM machines were employedin European plants by
2015,andmanymoretoday.
FIGURE5
UrielTradowsky,winnerofthe2016EPMAMastersThesisAward.
FIGURE6
WinneroftheEPMAPMComponentAwardintheAdditiveManufacturing category,alightweightpartitionforAirbuspassengercabininstallation.
FIGURE7
PresidentPhilippeGundermanndetailedtheextensiveEPMAactivitiesin Europe.
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12.2 million Europeans worked,directly or indirectly,in the
automotivesector,byvolumethelargestmarketforPMproducts.
18.1millioncars,vans,trucksandbuseswereproducedannually,
augmentingafleetof291millionmotorvehicles.Europecurrently
represented23%ofworldautomotiveproduction,comparedwith
20%forNAFTA(NorthAmerica)and51%forAsia/Oceania.
TheEuropeanautomotiveindustryinvesteds44.7inR&Din
2015,5%oftotalturnover.Drivingforcesforinnovationwereroad
safety,environmentalimpactandalternative-fuelvehicles.
Demandfornewairlinerswasalsobooming,withan
anticipat-edneedfor32,000by2034,valuedats5.6trillion.Asastrong
growthmarketforAM,itincludedbothairframesandengines,as
wellasancillaryfittingsandothercomponents.
EPMAnowhad188corporatemembersin29countries
world-wide, notall in Europe, organized in 5 sectoral groups. These
formedone ofthree R&D focuspoints, the others beingmetal
powdersandspecializedequipmentandmachinery(Fig.11).Its
threekey missionsweretorepresenttheEuropean PMindustry
internationally,topromoteanddevelopPMtechnology,andto
developthePMfuture.
FIGURE9
European2015PMpartsproduction,byweight.
FIGURE10
European2015PMpartsproduction,byvalue. FIGURE8
Fluctuationsinworldcommoditymetalspriceindex.
FIGURE11 TheEPMAfocus.
FIGURE12
TakashiSaito,ExecutiveDirectoroftheJPMA.
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Asia
NextupwasTakashiSaito(Fig.12),ExecutiveDirectoroftheJapan
PowderMetallurgyAssociation(JPMA),whopresentedhis
over-viewofthePMindustryinAsiagenerallyandJapaninparticular.
Healso informed us that the next World Congress would
takeplaceinBeijing,China,fromSunday16thto
Thurs-day20thSeptember2018.
Fig.13illustratesvolumetrendsfromthefivemajorproduction
areas ofAsia, and Fig. 14froma number ofsmaller producing
countries.It’sinterestingtonotehowChina overtookJapanin
2008,ayearoffinancialdisasters,andnowleadsbyasubstantial
margin,andhowIndonesiacamealmostfromnowherein2013to
matchMalaysia’soutputonlytwoyearslater.
Inmonetaryterms,MIMsalesinAsiaareevenmoredominated
byChina,whichholdsapproximately75%ofthebillion-US-dollar
market (Fig. 15). However, most statistics in this presentation
camefromJapanForexample,afterrecoveringfromasharpdrop
in 2009, production weight of ferrous PM machine parts was
consistentlycloseto90,000t/a.Totalshipmentsofironpowders
forPMwereabout15,000t/ahigherandcopperpowdershipments
were around 4500t/a in 2015. A typical Japanese four-wheel
vehiclecontainsabout9kgofPMparts.
The4thAPMAConferencewilltakeplaceattheSheratonHotel
ConferenceVenueinHsinchu,Taiwan,fromSunday9thto
Tues-day11thApril2017.EarliereventswereheldinKorea,Chinaand
Japanin2011,2013and2015respectively.
FIGURE13
PMproductioninthefivemajorAsianareas.
FIGURE14
PMproductioninsmallerproductionareasofAsia.
FIGURE15
2015MIMsalesinAsia.
FIGURE17
Metalpowdershipments:ironpowders. FIGURE16
MPIFPresidentPatrickMcGeehan.
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North
America
FollowingtherecentappointmentofJamesAdamstoreplacethe
long-servingC. JamesTrombino asExecutiveDirectorofUSA’s
MPIF(MetalPowderIndustryFederation),itfelltoMPIFPresident PatrickMcGeehan(Fig.16)topresenttheNorthAmericanpartof thisglobalsurvey.
The first statistic (Fig. 17) showed iron powder shipments
increasing, presumablyfrom2014to 2015,by 1.7%,whilst the
PMsectorincreasedby2.3%.Ifmycalculationsarecorrect,other
uses of iron powders (welding, cutting, scarfing and lancing)
apparentlydecreasedfrom35,911to34,471tons,or4.0%,during
the same period.Though possible, I findthis price movement
reversalhardtobelieve.
Non-ferrousmetalpowdershipmentsarerecordedbyweightin
Fig.18.Onewonderswhatproportionofactualconsumptionis
represented by the comparatively low value of 4264tons for
tungstencarbide.
Infollowingsectionsofthisinterestingpresentation,additive
manufacturingwasunderstandablygivenprideofplaceinamix
ofusefulinformation.Toolmakers,forexample,wereproducing
morecomplexandlargerpartstotightertolerances.Thoughnot
mentioned, I should be surprised if computerized die design
werenotalreadylinkedtoadditivediemanufactureonalarge
scale, perhaps with carbide dies and wear-resistant hard
coatings.
Sinteringfurnaceswerebeingretrofittedforrapidcoolingand
moresensorsprovidedfordataacquisition.Inaddition,therewas
ademandforpressesabove500tgrossweight.
Growthmarketsincludedautomotive,appliancesandlawnand
gardenequipment.LightvehicleproductioninNorthAmericahad
reached17.4millionunitsp/a,withmorethan27kgofPMparts
intheaveragelighttruckorSUV.Potential‘roadblocks,’however,
includedengineswithfewercylindersandsmallertransmissions,
andalternativeelectricpowersystems.
MIMpowdersupplyhadreached1200–1600tonnes,ofwhich
morethan20%wasforfirearms,afigureunlikelytoberepeated
elsewhereintheworld.But50–100companieswerecompetingin
the rapidly growingmetal AM (or MAM)marketplace. For the
refractory-metal-basedsector,mainlyWCpowders,mining
activi-tywasstagnant,withoilandgasdrillingatthe lowestlevelfor
decades.However, non-mining and energy-relatedapplications
continuedtogrowatasteadypace.
Global
data
reporting
–
a
missed
opportunity
Forreasonsclearlyrelatedtotheirorganizationalsetups,eachof
the PM main geographicalareas (Europe,Asia, NorthAmerica)
collectsdataandreportsonadifferentbasis,withdifferentsectoral
definitions and prioritizing by choice input raw materials or
outputfinished products. Thoughmuchof the information
re-quirediscollectedandmadeavailableelsewhere,theEPMA,MPIF
andJPMAseemtoavoidanalyzingandreportingtheworld’sPM
industryonanythinglikeatrulyglobalbasis.
Asa single butcritical example, MPIFstatistics, classifiedby
powdershipments,cannotbecompareddirectlywiththosefrom
EPMA,wherePMpartsproductionsectorsarepreferred.Forsucha
comparisonweneedtocollectandcollatedetailsoflocal produc-tion,imports,exportsandusage,forrawmaterials,internediates
and finished products. Although a formidable compilation, all
suchdetailsarealready,orcouldbemade,availableifthedesire
werethere
Withtwoyearsto doso,might Isuggestthat EPMA,
JPMAandMPIFgettogetherandproducecoordinatedor
compatiblesetsof statistics,ona trulyglobal basis, in
timeforthenextWorldCongress.
FIGURE18
Metalpowdershipments:non-ferrouspowders.
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