The grand prize in the Hand Tools/Recreation Category went to FMS Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a 30-tooth drive sprocket fabricated from sinter-hardened steel with a proprietary machining additive, made for Polaris Industries, Inc. The part goes into a motorcycle where it is driven by the output shaft of the transmission and in turn drives the rear wheel via a toothed pulley. Other than tapping, the part is formed completely net shape, which offered cost savings over the previously machined part.
Winners of the 2017 Powder Metallurgy (PM) Design Excellence Awards Competition, sponsored by the Metal Powder Industries Federation (an international trade association for the metal powder producing and consuming industries), were announced at the POWDERMET2017 International Conference on Powder Metallurgy & Particulate Materials. Receiving grand prizes and awards of distinction, the winning parts are outstanding examples of powder metallurgy's precision, performance, complexity, economy, innovation, and sustainability. The winning parts show how customers from around the world are taking advantage of PM's remarkable design advantages.
PM is an automated metalworking process that forms metal powders into precision components used in applications such as auto engines and transmissions, hardware, industrial machinery, sporting goods, defense, and firearms. More than 800 million pounds of PM parts are made annually in North America.
