Hot-Isostatic Pressing (HIP)

Righton Blackburns Powder Metals supplies a range of stainless steel, nickel and cobalt alloys for HIP processing.

Hot Isostatic pressing is an effective process to eliminate defects in powder based additively manufactured parts, generating 100% dense material with improved fatigue properties and ductility.

Sectors

HIP has come in to its own since it reached a comparable scale to castings and forgings, and has become recognised as an economic competitor to forging and casting in applications with higher raw material costs.

There are currently three main HIP sectors:
  • Oil and gas
  • Power generation
  • Aerospace
Oil and gas
Power generation
HIP aerospace

HIP Process

HIP is a material treatment process that involves the use of heat and pressure to improve the physical properties of a material. It’s typically performed on metals and ceramics. When either of these types of materials are exposed to heat and pressure, their physical properties change.

With HIP, the material is placed inside an HIP machine. HIP machines feature both a furnace and pressure vessel that changes the physical properties of the material. Argon gas is forced inside the HIP machine, thereby increasing the vessel’s temperature as well as pressurizing the vessel. After allowing the argon gas to sit for a specific amount of time, the vessel is cooled. When finished, the treated material is removed from the vessel.

The P HIP Process 2
The P HIP Process 2

HIPs come in many forms, shapes and sizes and can operate at a range of temperatures and pressures.

HIP can be used to press a range of materials from Ceramics and Aluminium castings to Nickel based ‘super-alloys’ for all sorts of applications.

Applications and Products of HIP

HIP is widely used during the manufacture of high integrity and precise components for a diverse range of applications and industries from Aerospace and Medicine to Automotive.

  • Composites
  • Medical implants
  • Bi-metal materials
  • Sintering (Powder metallurgy)
  • Coatings
  • Metal matrix composites
  • Super-alloy castings
  • Titanium castings
  • Gas turbine components
  • Pumps
  • Valves
  • Pistons
  • Cutting tools
  • Heat treatment
  • Diffusion bonding

Benefits of HIP

HIP allows the impurities (pores) to be squeezed out of materials in order to improve a number of their material characteristics. For example, in sintering (powder metallurgy) the process compresses a volume of metal powder at such high pressures and temperatures, that through a combination of deformation, creep and diffusion bonding you actually create a product with an homogenous annealed microstructure (compact solid) with minimal or no impurities in the material.

It allows manufacturers to create stronger and more durable products. When certain materials, such as metals and ceramics, are exposed to heat and pressure, they become stronger and more durable.

Some manufacturing companies use HIP to minimize the production of scrap material. By treating the material with pressure and heat beforehand, the material will typically create less scrap when used in other manufacturing processes.

Metal powders can be converted into solid material using HIP. For this type of HIP process, however, more pressure is required. It’s not uncommon for metal powders to be exposed to up to 15,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) of pressure. Combined with heat, the pressure squeezes the metal powders together, resulting in the formation of a solid material.

HIP gives the manufacturer and ultimate user other unique benefits including:

  • Highest achievable density
  • Higher static strength
  • No segregation or grain growth during manufacture
  • Higher dynamic/yield and tensile strength
  • Homogeneous annealed microstructure
  • Maximum abrasion resistance
  • Higher corrosion resistance
  • Reduced porosity
  • Improved fatigue resistance
  • Reduction of microshrinkage of castings
  • Near-Net shaped parts
Warehouse - Righton Blackburns

Talk to an expert

Righton Blackburns Powder Metals

Building 38,
Second Avenue,
The Pensnett Estate,
Kingswinford,
West Midlands, DY6 7UN
+44 (0)1384 276 400
Hip pressing