The Challenge

Metal powders can be difficult to process consistently. Differences in particle size, shape, flowability, contamination, packing behaviour, binder interaction, atmosphere response, and sintering behaviour can all affect the quality and reliability of final products.

How AMRICC Can Help

We provide a consultative, pilot-scale service for organisations developing or improving metal powders, powder-derived parts, and powder-based manufacturing routes

Our pilot-scale capability brings together powder processing, characterisation, feedstock development, forming, debinding, sintering, microstructural analysis, physical and mechanical testing, and modelling-led optimisation.

We can support customers who need to:

• Develop or improve a powder-processing route before scale-up or production
• Characterise powders and understand behaviours such as size, shape, flow, pressability, and contamination risk
• Convert powders into pellets, preforms, coupons, or prototype components using suitable forming routes
• Establish debind, sinter, reduction, and heat-treatment windows under controlled air, vacuum, inert, or hydrogen atmospheres
• Improve density and reduce porosity using approaches such as CIP, hot pressing, and HIP
• Generate microstructural, thermal, physical, chemical, and mechanical evidence to support technical decisions
• Use Lucideon's IMPACT™ tools to reduce development risk and shorten learning cycles (AMRICC is a subsidiary of Lucideon).

Our metal powder-processing capabilities

Powder characterisation and conditioning

Understanding the incoming powder is the first step in controlling the process. We can characterise chemical composition, particle size distribution, particle shape, flowability, pressability, and other properties that influence downstream behaviour.

Our capabilities include:

• Milling, classification, sieving, and granulation
• Particle size and shape analysis
• Powder flow and rheology
• Chemical analysis
• SEM and XRD analysis to determine phase composition and microstructure

Feedstock development and contamination control

Metal powder processing often depends on developing a feedstock that behaves consistently during handling, forming, debinding, and densification. We can support the development of process-ready powders, granules, slurries, and pastes using mixing, spray drying, formulation, and conditioning routes.

Relevant capabilities include:

• High-shear, low-shear, and vacuum planetary mixing
• Spray drying, including closed-loop spray drying for inert or solvent-sensitive feedstock development
• Granulation and powder conditioning
• Binder, additive, and formulation support

Forming and preform generation

We help you to convert powders into green bodies, preforms, test coupons, and prototype components so that process routes can be evaluated before scale-up. This can include pressing, cold isostatic pressing.

Key capabilities include:

• Hydraulic and uniaxial pressing
• Cold isostatic pressing
• Prototype and coupon generation
• Feedstock and forming-route development
• Support for powder-to-preform development ahead of sintering, heat treatment, hot pressing, or HIP

Thermal process and atmosphere development

Thermal processing is often where powder-derived parts succeed or fail. New products need more than furnace access, they need the right temperature, atmosphere, ramp rate, hold time, cooling profile, and supporting evidence for their material and geometry.

We can support:

• Debinding and sintering
• Heat treatment
• Atmosphere selection
• Cycle development and optimisation
• Controlled air, vacuum, inert, and hydrogen-capable processing

Vacuum, inert, and hydrogen atmosphere processing

Lucideon and AMRICC offer access to specialised atmosphere-processing capabilities that can be difficult to replicate on standard laboratory or production equipment. These capabilities are especially relevant where reduction, oxidation control, impurity management, debinding behaviour, or atmosphere-sensitive microstructure is

Characterisation and validation

Processing trials only create value if you can understand what happened and what the results mean. Lucideon provides materials testing, characterisation, analysis, and evaluation across a wide range of industries and materials, with experts interpreting the data to understand product or material performance.

For metal powder processing programmes, this can include:

• SEM and metallographic evaluation
• Density and porosity assessment
• Phase, structural analysis and high-temperature XRD
• STA, DTA, TGA, and DSC
• Dilatometry and thermal expansion
• Chemical analysis
• Physical and mechanical testing including high temperatures

Modelling, DoE, and process optimisation

Experimental work can be strengthened by structured design of experiments, modelling, machine learning, FEA, COMSOL Multiphysics, and process optimisation. This helps to design trials intelligently, reduce wasted test cycles, improve interpretation, and better understand relationships between processing conditions, microstructure, and performance.

Why choose AMRICC?

Integrated capability

Lucideon and AMRICC bring together powder processing, forming, thermal processing, densification, characterisation, and modelling in a connected development pathway. Internal materials describe this as a pilot-scale powder-to-part chain suited to advanced ceramic and metal powder processing.

Technical interpretation, not just data

Lucideon’s materials testing and characterisation services emphasise that experts do not just provide data, we interpret results to understand why a material or product is performing the way it is.

Pilot-scale development without disrupting production

This is for low-volume, high-value development work where technical learning, validation, qualification evidence, or process de-risking before scale-up or production commitment are required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can AMRICC help before production scale-up?

Yes. Our services are designed to develop, optimise, and validate powder-processing routes before committing to scale-up or production.

Can AMRICC support metal powder characterisation?

Yes. Relevant capabilities include particle size and shape analysis, powder flow and rheology testing, chemical analysis, SEM, XRD, zeta potential measurement, and other analytical methods depending on the powder and application.

Can AMRICC support controlled-atmosphere thermal processing?

Yes. The offer includes air, vacuum, inert, and hydrogen-capable thermal process development, including debinding, sintering, reduction, and heat-treatment route development.

Can AMRICC support densification of powder-derived parts?

Yes. Relevant densification and integrity-improvement options include CIP-supported forming, hot pressing, and HIP.

Which sectors are these services relevant to?

This is particularly relevant to organisations working in aerospace, space, defence, nuclear, hydrogen and decarbonisation, semiconductors and power electronics, medical devices, and advanced manufacturing where powder development, controlled processing, densification, and qualification evidence are important.