How do you calculate part yield in powder metallurgy?

Divide the rejected parts by the total run for the reject share, then take the complement. With 8 rejects out of 250 parts, the reject share is 3.2% and the part yield headline is 96.8%.

What is a good yield for sintered PM parts?

Mature PM lines running structural iron or steel parts commonly hold scrap under 1-2%, so a 95% yield target is loose. A 96.8% yield (3.2% rejects) is workable but leaves room to tighten.

What does the gap to target mean here?

It is the yield minus your benchmark, in points. With a 95% reference and a 96.8% yield, the calculator reports +1.8 points - positive means above target.

What causes low yield in sintered parts?

Common culprits are green cracks from uneven fill or ejection, blistering from incomplete lubricant burn-off, distortion in the sintering furnace, and dimensional rejects after sizing or coining.

Should I count green rejects and sintered rejects together?

For a single station yield, keep them separate, a green reject wastes only powder and press time, while a post-sinter reject also wastes furnace energy and any secondary machining. This calculator gives one blended rate, so scope the inputs deliberately.

How do I convert reject rate to first-pass yield?

First-pass yield is 100% minus the reject rate, which is exactly what the headline computes: a 3.2% reject share equals the 96.8% first-pass yield shown for those 250 parts.

Powder Metallurgy & Sintered Parts calculator

Part Yield Calculator

Part Yield in powder metallurgy tracks the share of pressed-and-sintered components that fail inspection, cracks, laminations, density gradients, dimensional drift after sizing, or blister defects from poor dewaxing. Quality engineers and press-shop supervisors watch this metric because PM defects often trace to a specific station: fill inconsistency, punch wear, sintering atmosphere upsets or green cracks. Comparing the live scrap rate against a target yield tells you how far off you are and whether the loss is drifting. On a high-volume automotive PM line, even a one-point yield miss on millions of parts is real money in wasted powder, furnace time and secondary operations.

What this calculator does

Part Yield in powder metallurgy tracks the share of pressed-and-sintered components that fail inspection, cracks, laminations, density gradients, dimensional drift after sizing, or blister defects from poor dewaxing.
Use it when part yield in powder metallurgy and sintered parts needs a clean rate and gap-to-target you can put on a tier board.
It computes the reject rate as rejected parts divided by total parts, then reports the gap in points between that rate and your target yield benchmark.

Formula used

Part yield = 100 − (rejected or scrapped parts ÷ total parts pressed & sintered × 100)
Reject share = rejected or scrapped parts ÷ total parts pressed & sintered × 100
Gap to target = 100 − (rejected or scrapped parts ÷ total parts pressed & sintered × 100) − target yield benchmark

Inputs explained

Rejected or scrapped parts:
Total parts pressed & sintered:
Target yield benchmark:

How to use the result

Use it during shift reviews, PPAP capability studies, or when a defect trend appears and you need to size the loss against a goal.
It treats every rejected part the same, so it will not distinguish a cheap green reject caught before sintering from an expensive part scrapped after machining and heat treat.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 374.203 (BLS, Jul 2026), up 22.5% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
U.S. iron and steel imports ran $2.2B in Jun 2026 (Census International Trade). The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $0.4B in the category that month. Import volumes are the pressure gauge behind tariff and reshoring decisions.

Common questions

How do you calculate part yield in powder metallurgy? Divide the rejected parts by the total run for the reject share, then take the complement. With 8 rejects out of 250 parts, the reject share is 3.2% and the part yield headline is 96.8%.
What is a good yield for sintered PM parts? Mature PM lines running structural iron or steel parts commonly hold scrap under 1-2%, so a 95% yield target is loose. A 96.8% yield (3.2% rejects) is workable but leaves room to tighten.
What does the gap to target mean here? It is the yield minus your benchmark, in points. With a 95% reference and a 96.8% yield, the calculator reports +1.8 points - positive means above target.
What causes low yield in sintered parts? Common culprits are green cracks from uneven fill or ejection, blistering from incomplete lubricant burn-off, distortion in the sintering furnace, and dimensional rejects after sizing or coining.
Should I count green rejects and sintered rejects together? For a single station yield, keep them separate, a green reject wastes only powder and press time, while a post-sinter reject also wastes furnace energy and any secondary machining. This calculator gives one blended rate, so scope the inputs deliberately.

Last reviewed 2026-08-13.