Please explain the difference between 'Sintered aluminum' and forged metal or aluminum connecting rods ?

 

http://www.pickpm.com/designcenter/Conrod.pdf

 

Sintering is basically the process by which powder metal is heated to "cure" the green product into a useable form. Sintered metal and forged product are two very different processes and each have their unique challenges and benefits. Sintered product starts with metal flakes that are compressed through a punch and die into a shape that is very close to a useable shape. Forged product starts with a "cold" shape of solid metal that is then refined with a hammer. The result of the forging process is compaction of the grain of the internal structure and this compaction gives the part greater strength than the original cold part.
If you are asking which connecting rod is stronger or better.........forged or sintered.......... you really have to dig deeper into the physics of each process. A forged product will almost always be more resistant to change than sintered because of the compaction of the grain. There are powder metal products that are forged or coined after sintering that increase strength. However, each process will give you an acceptable product but there are application specific reasons one would pick one over the other. Powder metal technology will generally give you more of a near net shape that requires minimal secondary processing than a forging but there are modern cold forming technologies that will compete in price and tolerance.