Wax-based binder for low-pressure injection molding and the robust production of ceramic parts

In this paper, a wax-based binder was developed for low-pressure injection molding of very fine (0,4 μm) average particle size alumina ceramic bodies. The major component used in the binder mixture was paraffin wax. The process of binder removal from the green ceramics presented several difficulties especially when the ceramic powder was very fine, and the pieces had large cross-section. The process used for debinding was wicking in an alumina powder bed of the same powder. With the binder formulation presented here, and the optimization of the ramps and dwells furnace programmation for the debinding, it was possible to produce sintered alumina bodies with large crosssection and 98.5% of the theoretical density, free of defects.