Powder Metallurgy Gear in China
Powder metallurgy gears from BLUE are precision-pressed into exact sizes and shapes by our advanced powder compaction press, reducing the need for secondary machining. We have the capability to manufacture a wide variety of sintered gears, including spur gears, helical gears, bevel gears, double gears and planetary gears.
What is Powder Metal Gear?
Powder metal gear is made by pressing metal powder in a precision die and sintering it to near-net shape. Powder metallurgy process delivers accurate tooth forms with little machining, stable batch-to-batch quality, and competitive cost at high volume.
Powder Production
Powder production is the first step in PM. It’s no exaggeration to say that the characteristics of the powders determine the quality of the final sintered components.
Common powder production methods including gas atomization, water atomization, reduction, electrolysis, and mechanical grinding.
Mixing
Metal powder (usually iron-based alloy) is mixed with a binder like zinc stearate or lithium stearate. These binders help the powder flow, enhance compressibility, and reduce the force required to eject the compacted part from the die.
Common powder metallurgy gear materials include: FC–0205, FC-0208, FD-0205, FN-0205, and FL-4205.
Compacting
Powder metallurgy gears are pressed direct-to-tooth-form. Mixed metal powder is compacted in a precision gear die at 400–800 MPa, replicating involute flanks, root fillets, and hub features in one stroke. This yields near-net gear geometry with minimal machining.
The green compact has low green strength and must be handled carefully before sintering.
Sinteirng
Pressed gear preform undergoes sintering in a controlled-atmosphere continuous furnace. For Fe-based systems, a typical temperature is 1120 °C. Protective gas is usually inert gas or reducing gas, such as nitrogen, argon, hydrogen.
During sintering, solid-state diffusion and neck growth reduce porosity, densify the structure, and stabilize tooth form and pitch.
Advantages of Sintered Gears
Sintered gears combine high-volume cost efficiency with green near-net-shape manufacturing, achieving complex geometry, tight tolerances, and reliable quality with minimal material waste.
Cost-effective
Sintered gears are cost-effective for high-volume production thanks to minimal waste, little post-machining, and an automated, repeatable manufacturing process.
Quality Consistency
Powdered metal gear delivers consistent part-to-part quality through stable pressing operations and sintering cycles across different production batches.
Complex Geometry
Powder metal gears can be pressed with complex geometry such as involute teeth, internal splines or keyways, thin webs, multi-level faces, hubs/flanges,
Near Net Shape
Powder metallurgy delivers near-net tooth geometry straight from the die; this reduces the need for extensive machining and saves time and cost.
Tight Tolerances
The radial dimensional tolerance of sintered metal gears is generally between IT8 and IT9, and can be achieved through the sizing process to IT6 to IT7.
Environmentally Friendly
PM generates minimal waste, consumes less energy, and can utilize recycled powders, making it a more eco-friendly option than traditional metalworking processes.
Applications of Powder Metal Gears
Sintered gears serve many industries such as automobiles, motorcycles, power tools, medical equipment, lawn and garden machines, home appliances, aerospace, and off-highway vehicles.
Automotive
Motorcycle
Powder Tools
Medical
Lawn & Garden
Applicances
Aerospace
Off-highway Vehicles
Powder Metallurgy Gears Manufactured by BLUE
Here are various powder metallurgy gears we have manufactured, including spur gears, helical gears, bevel gears, oil pump gears, double gears, and planetary gears.
Sintered Gears
Sintered gears are formed by pressing metal powder in one step, without the need for secondary processing.
Sintered Metal Gears
Sintered metal gears require heat treatment process, and the surface hardness can reach above HRC50.
OEM Sintered Gears
OEM sintered gears use metal powder as raw material, and the material utilization rate can reach more than 95%.
Powdered Metal Bevel Gears
Powder metal bevel gears have a conical shape and transmit rotational motion between intersecting shafts at an angle.
Powdered Metal Spur Gears
Powdered metal spur gears transmit motion and power between parallel shafts. They are easily pressed into precision shape.
Powder Metal Helical Gears
Powdered metal helical gears feature teeth that are angled (helix) with the gear axis, which allows for smooth, quiet operation.
Factory Sintering Gears
The quality of powder metallurgy gears produced by Chinese factories is already quite high, comparable to your local suppliers.
Sintered Powder Metal Gears
Sintered powder metal gears allow for flexible material composition adjustments to meet the performance requirements of various parts.
Oil Pump Gears
An oil pump gear is a key component in oil pump that pressurize and circulate oil throughout an engine's lubrication system.
Why Choose Us?
BLUE is your trusted manufacturer of high-quality powder metallurgy gears, providing strict quality control, free mold design, fast delivery, and competitive price from China.
BLUE High Quality Standards
BLUE assures your product quality with ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management system. We provide a one-year warranty on your powder metal gears.
Standard Sintered Gears Shop
We have a wide range of standard sintered metal gears in stock for quick delivery. All of these sintered metal gears come with no mold fees.
Download Sintered Gears Product List
Discover BLUE’s full range of powder metallurgy standard sintered gears. Download our free product list to find the exact match for your requirements.
BLUE's Custom Powder Metal Gears Specifications
BLUE’s ability include but are not limited to:
Diameter: 5mm to 250mm is available.
Height: 5 to 100mm is possible.
Geometries: multi-step, helical, bevel, flanged gears are all available.
Helical gears up to a 20 degree helix angle.
All BLUE’s sintered cylindrical gears can reach DIN 3961 grade 8.
After heat treatment, the surface hardness of our sintered gears can reach 560~660 HV10(HRC 53~58).
We can improve the tooth surface accuracy of sintered gears by honing technology
Powder Metallurgy Gear Design Advices
- Uniform wall thickness:
Design sintered gears with uniform wall thickness to ensure uniform density distribution during pressing and sintering
- Thickness variation:
Multi-link gears should avoid sharp changes in cross-sectional thickness
- Weight reduction holes
When the outer diameter of the gear is large and weight reduction is required, circular weight reduction holes are better and easier to process and install
- Tooth shape
The root and tip edges of involute gears are optimized with rounded transition arcs, which improve root strength and reduce operational noise.
Powder Metallurgy Gear Materials
Our team not only has a deep understanding of powder metallurgy gear manufacturing, but also has extensive expertise in PM materials.
Common materials for powder metallurgy gears include MPIF FN-0205, FD-0205, FN-0205-80HT, as well as JIS SMF5030 and SMF5040.
When powder metal gears face impact loads, the gear teeth are prone to breakage. To address this, materials with better toughness, such as carburized and quenched low-carbon steel, should be used.
For high-speed closed transmission gears, high tooth surface hardness is essential. Medium carbon steel with surface quenching is a suitable choice.
When compact structure and high wear resistance are required for sintered gears, alloy steel is the preferred option.
Mechanical Properties of Sintered Gear Materials
The following are some commonly used mechanical properties of powder metallurgy gear materials.
Model | State | Density g/cm3 | TS Mpa | FL Mpa | Apparent Hardness |
FC-0208 | Sintered Hardened | 6.7 6.8 | 410 620 | 160 240 | 73HRB 35HRC |
FN-0205 | Sintered Hardened | 6.9 6.9 | 340 830 | 120 240 | 59HRB 29HRC |
FX-2008 | Sintered Hardened | 7.3 7.3 | 550 690 | 160 190 | 90HRB 36HRC |
FD-0205 | Sintered Hardened | 7.1 7.1 | 610 1030 | 220 450 | 80HRB 38HRC |
Get Your Powder Metal Gears Today!
