Evaluation of Metal Injection Molded 17-4 Ph Stainless Steel for Instruments

In an effort to investigate a lower cost material for medical instrument applications, 17-4 PH stainless steel samples were evaluated from a metal injection molding (MIM) process.  Four lots of metal powders were processed through the MIM process. Half of the samples were subjected to hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and all samples were precipitation hardened to the H900 condition.  Samples were evaluated for chemical composition, tensile properties, apparent hardness, corrosion resistance, and microstructure.  Tensile properties and chemical composition were compared to, and passed the requirements of ASTM B883.  A cost savings of 85% was estimated compared to the current instrument manufactured by conventional methods.