ABSTRACT
Isostatic hot-pressing combines two hitherto well known but quite distinct operations in powder-metallurgy processing. Isostatic pressing has been used for a long time as a process for the consolidation of powder, for which it has some particular advantages and some serious limitations. The major production use of isostatic hot-pressing was concerned with the manufacture of high-speed steel. High-speed steel is used for many other applications than metal cutting and cold-forming tools, and extrusion punches are commonly produced products. The application of isostatic hot-pressing to high temperature super-alloys closely parallels that of the two high-speed steel processes. The application of isostatic hot-pressing was for the gas pressure-assisted, diffusion-bonding process and this was followed by various powder-consolidation processes. The isostatic hot-pressing process has been adopted on a large scale by the cemented-carbide industry. In other industries, both metallurgical and ceramic, hot-pressing was occasionally used.
