The synergy between powder metallurgy processes and welding of metallic alloy: a review

Powder metallurgy (PM) technology is an ideal manufacturing process to produce near net shape parts i.e. part that requires little or no machining, examples of PM processes are spark plasma sintering, isostatic pressing and additive manufacturing. PM allows maximisation of materials and produces part with optimised mechanical and physical properties. Also, PM process provides the possibility to further increase the industrial use of PM parts by fabricating it into complex geometrical shapes via joining. Joining is the most important mechanical process necessary for PM parts to perform in actual service conditions expected in automobile parts and structural parts. Despite apparent advantages of PM processes, joining PM parts has been a tedious process, due to challenges associated with inherent characteristics, like porosity, chemical composition and impurities like oil or grease, which tend to impair the weldments property. In this document, a review of PM process is presented, focusing on different welding methods that can be used to effectively join PM components.