Powder Metal Parts Cut Costs

GKN Sinter Metals of Auburn Hills, MI won a grand prize in an annual powder metal design competition for a carrier and one-way rocker clutch assembly made for Ford Motor.

Designed for powder metal (PM), the assembly uses fewer components compared to alternate designs and manufacturing methods, reducing the mass of the assembly, improving fuel efficiency without sacrificing performance.

Used in the new Ford Super Duty TorqShift six-speed automatic transmission, the hybrid assembly contains five powder steel parts weighing a total of 17 lb. The sinter-brazed subassembly consists of four multi-level PM parts, of which three parts (cage, spider, and carrier plate) are made to a density of 6.8 g/cm³.

The rocker plate is sinter-hardened during the sinter- brazing phase and has a density of 7.0 g/cm³. The assembly also has a doubled-pressed and double-sintered cam plate made to 7.3 g/cm³ density with an ultimate tensile strength of 170,000 psi and a mean tempered hardness exceeding 40 HRC.

To form the parts and maintain precision tolerances, special tooling was developed and used with unconventional press motions. Ford subjected the assembly to ultimate torsional torque loading at a minimum of 8,000 ft-lb and fatigue testing at a minimum of 299,000 cycles at 1,730 ft-lb.

"The application provided an estimated 20 percent cost savings over competitive processes," according to a statement from the MPIF.

GKN Sinter Metals won another grand prize in the automotive chassis category for a differential bearing adjuster made for American Axle & Manufacturing and used in the GMT 900 rear differential on GM Tahoe and Yukon models.

Other winners are:

A porous bronze filter made by Capstan California, Carson, CA. for Chase Filters and Components received the grand prize in the aerospace/military category.

• Parmatech Corp., Petaluma, CA, earned the grand prize in the hand tools/recreation category for a 420 stainless-steel, metal injection molded (MIM) hunting arrowhead made for Optek Precision Tooling Ltd.

• A PMcopper-steel outer hub exit spindle used in electronic door locks won the grand prize in the hardware/appliances category. Made by ASCO Sintering Co., Commerce, CA, for Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies (Schlage), the part connects a standard lock and an exit device.

• FloMet of Deland, FL earned the grand prize in the medical/dental category for a housing cup and lid used in an audio device with magnetic shielding capabilities.

Awards of Distinction

• Cloyes Gear & Products Inc., Paris, AR - intake sprocket gear and an exhaust gear used in a coupling assembly.

• Megamet Solid Metals Inc., Earth City, MO - a rear sight used on sporting and military rifles.

• Indo-US MIM Tec (P) Ltd., Bangalore, India - a 17-4PH stainless steel hammer.

• Webster-Hoff Corp., Glendale Heights, IL - a PM sinter-hardened steel cam and bushing used in a manual paper hole punching machine.

• Lovejoy Sintered Solutions, Downers Grove, IL - a PM diffusion-alloyed steel rotor.

• Burgess-Norton Mfg. Co., Geneva, I- a PM steel crimp retainer operating in a valve assembly.

• Kinetics Climax, Wilsonville, OR - a 17-PH stainless steel distal channel retainer formed via the MIM process.

• Capstan California - a bronze filter plate.