Rubber isostatic pressing (RIP) of powders for magnets and other materials

A brief review is given about the development of rubber isostatic pressing (RIP) of powders for magnets and other materials that includes: principles of RIP; RIP apparatuses; recent progress; and advantages of RIP. As the recent progress, a new filling technique, ‘air tapping (AT) and grid separation (GS)’, is presented. Owing to the development of the AT+GS technique, the RIP process has become a promising new technology of powder compaction not only for magnets but also for many other materials including titanium alloys, various ceramics, cemented carbides, diamond powders, and eventually, ordinary metal powders for sintered machine parts.