MINNEAPOLIS – FMS Corporation received the Award of Distinction in the hardware/appliances category announced at PowderMet2013, the International Conference on Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials. The award recognized an assembly consisting of rack, pinion, and bushing used in a patented pergola louver system that allows the pergola to convert to a water-tight shelter.

The awards competition is sponsored by the Metal Powder Industries Federation, an international association for the metal powder producing and consuming industries. The parts recognized in the competition are outstanding examples of PM’s precision, performance, complexity, economy, innovation and sustainability.

“We are privileged to be a two time recipient of the 2013 Award of Distinction from the Metal Powder Industries Federation,” says John Sweet, president, FMS Corporation.  “This assembly, recognized in the hardware/appliances category, is particularly cost effective and will deliver an estimated 75 percent savings over the machined alternative.”

The assembly is created when the sinter-hardened steel rack and five-level pinion and the copper steel bushing are pressed to net shape with one cross-drilled hole being the only secondary operation performed.  The assembly was designed to be sinter bonded for strength.  The parts have a typical density of 6.7 g/cm3, 75,000 psi ultimate tensile strength, 135,000 psi transverse rupture strength, and 20 HRC min. apparent hardness and 52 HRC min. particle hardness.

For information about FMS Corporation and custom powder metal components, please call +1 952-888-7976 or email info@fmscorporation.com.

Powder metallurgy is an automated metalworking process that forms metal powder into precision components for use in engines and transmissions, business machines, hardware, biomedical and other products.  Powdered metal typically uses more than 97 percent of the starting raw material in the finished part, producing very little scrap metal; therefore is environmentally friendly compared to other processing methods.  More than 800 million pounds of powder metallurgy parts are made annually in North America.

FMS Corporation
Minneapolis-based FMS Corporation has been family-owned and operated since 1946.  The company’s Powder Metal Division provides customized powder metal manufacturing services, from parts design and alloy development, through production and assembly and custom prototyping.  FMS works with materials including low-alloy steels, stainless steels, brass, bronze, soft-magnetic materials and exotic alloys.  The company specializes in low- to medium-volume parts that would be difficult to produce using traditional metal-forming methods.  Irregularly shaped parts, such as gears, cams and those requiring keyways, can be manufactured economically and consistently with powder metal processes.

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FMS Corporation
Powder Metal Division
8635 Harriet Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
55420-2786
+1 952-888-7976
info@fmscorporation.com