Advanced powder metallurgy: machine learning to accelerate materials innovation

For over 30 years, MBN Nanomaterialia has been manufacturing high-tech metal powders for the diamond tool industry at its production facility close to Venice, Italy. Since the early 2000s, the company has focused the development on iron-copper-based metal bonds as an alternative to cobalt, anticipating the regulatory and sustainability requirements that now characterize the whole sector. The core powder technology is based on Mechanomade®, MBN’s proprietary mechano-chemical synthesis process based on High Energy Ball Milling (HEBM).

Unlike other conventional melt-based and chemical routes, this solid-state mechanical alloying technology produces pre-alloyed powders in which each particle is a fully integrated composite, characterized by an ultrafine and homogeneous microstructure. This unique structure enables lower sintering temperatures, shorter processing cycles, and enhanced mechanical properties compared with conventional alloys. MBN has developed a comprehensive range of materials and solutions to meet the diverse requirements of the diamond tool industry, offering products engineered to specific applications, from stone and ceramic processing to glass and concrete.

The Mechanomade® series, based on high-performance iron-copper composites, represented the first generation of cobalt-free materials developed by MBN for the production of Fickert tools used in hard-stone polishing lines. This family was subsequently complemented by Nanoplus metal binders, formulated without critical elements such as copper and nickel, providing a more sustainable solution particularly suited to ceramic processing. MBN has also developed dedicated solutions for pressureless sintering, with particular focus on the production of diamond beads for wire cutting.

All.in.one materials provide a multifunctional solution that, in their self-brazing (Sbn) versions, enables the diamond bead to be sintered and simultaneously brazed onto the steel support in a single thermal cycle. Bonding of the diamond body to the metal pin is achieved through the in-situ diffusion of the brazing phase, eliminating the need for silver-based brazing alloys and a second heat treatment. This innovative technology simplified the manufacturing process shortening production times and reducing costs.

All MBN materials are the result of careful engineering carried out in close cooperation with customers, who can work together with our team of specialized technicians to develop customized solutions. This process flexibility and customization capability have enabled MBN to progressively expand into other areas of powder metallurgy beyond its traditional diamond-tool business. These include complex alloys for wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings, materials for the energy and nuclear industries, and metal-matrix composites designed for applications involving extreme wear and corrosion.

Indeed, the same mechanochemical approach originally developed for diamond tools can be applied to produce an almost unlimited number of compositional combinations. The vast range of this accessible compositional space (potentially encompassing hundreds of thousands of combinations of elements and concentrations) represents both a major competitive advantage for the company and one of its most demanding challenges. Identifying the most promising compositions among all possible candidates requires tools that go beyond conventional trial-and-error experimentation.

For this reason, MBN has integrated machine learning and computational algorithms into its product development process. Predictive models are used to guide the design of new alloys toward targeted mechanical, physical, and sintering properties, reducing both the time and cost associated with experimental campaigns. This commitment has been strengthened through international collaborations. The European FORGE project, coordinated by MBN, resulted in the creation of a dataset containing approximately 500,000 compositions of Compositionally Complex Alloys (CCAs), together with their properties predicted using machine-learning models trained on experimental data and physical models.

Building on the legacy of FORGE, the CoBRAIN project, developed together with European partners, continues this work by focusing on composite materials capable of replacing conventional carbides and cermet, such as WC-Co systems, in wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings. This represents a further step toward high-performance, sustainable materials designed through predictive methodologies.

This evolution confirms MBN’s strategy: innovating materials through process metallurgy and, today, through data-driven development as well.

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