The main advantage of the powder metallurgy route in manufacturing engineering components is the economical advantage of producing near-net shapes with controlled alloy chemistry. This method is widely used for producing porous components such as self-lubricating bearings, filters, energy absorbers, electrodes and aerators. Sintering is the perferred method of producing bearings and filters with open porosity. However, sintered products with a large porosity lack adequate strength for applications where strength and porosity are both required. Hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) has been used to produce strong, porous metals [1-3].
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