Economical forming is determined by volume and tolerances of the final part. Dry pressing to size is the most economical forming method for volumes of 300 pieces or more, which help to justify the initial expense of tooling designed specifically for each part. Isostatic pressing is suited to low volumes and prototype items.
Machining in the pre-sintered, or green, state is often desirable because it allows manufacturing of finished shapes without expensive grinding of sintered material. Green machining is accomplished using conventional processes. Stock removal can be accomplished 15 times faster in the green state than in the sintered state. Green machining provides parts to tolerances of 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent of their final dimensions. Typical green machined surface finishes range around 32 to 64 microinches.
Precision grinding capabilities have been developed to meet the exacting specification requirements requested by the automotive, aerospace and nuclear industries. Saint-Gobain has the expertise to grind to close tolerances on most shapes (.0005"). Typical ground parts hold finishes of 16 or better microinches. When surface finishes are critical to improve friction and wear performance, finsihing operations can improve surfaces up to 4 microinches providing surface flatnesses to one helium light band.
Our company mission is to maintain the highest level of quality for our customers. Saint-Gobain has state-of-the-art nondestructive evaluation equipment for final quality inspections of internal structures. These include bulk and surface wave ultrasonics, fluorescent dye penetrant, radiography, acoustic emission and photomicrography.
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