Dimensional change of compact made from (Fe-Cu) prealloyed powder and copper powder compared to that of compact made from iron-copper elemental powder. The compact made from the prealloyed powder with a copper content of 7.18mass% which is nearly equal to its solution limit and copper powder showed only the large contraction in spite of penetration of liquid copper into grain boundary of the prealloyed powder. But the compact made from iron-copper elemental powder showed the large expansion in spite of same chemical composition with former case.
The removal of oxygen during sintering by carbothermic reduction was studied for steel compacts Fe-Cr-Mo-C and Fe-Mo-C prepared from prealloyed powders. The compacts were prepared by pressing at 600 and 1000 MPa and sintering at 1100 and 1300°C in vacuum. It showed that for the Cr-Mo steel, deoxidation strongly depends on the sintering temperature, in contrast to the plain Mo steel; at 1300°C very low oxygen levels were measured with the standard density compact while at high density still significant oxygen is contained. This indicates inhibition of final deoxidation by pore closure, but apparently without adverse effect on the mechanical properties.
Hydrogen, in even small quantities, is extremely deleterious to the sintering of aluminium. Understanding the cause of this effect is complicated by the multiple interactions that occur in multi-component systems. In this work, we examine the sintering rsponse of Al-2Mg (a simplified system) in pure nitrogen and nitrogen-hydrogen using dilatometry, differential scanning calorimetery, thermogravimetry and metallography.
The effect of individual gas constituents in a sintering atmosphere is examined to optimize the sintered properties of Iron-Carbon P/M components. The influence of sintered properties is reviewed as a function of hydrogen percentages and dew point in the sintering zone. Microstructures, porosity, pore morphology and dimensional changes are the subject of this review. The effects of CO containing atmospheres are compared against the non CO atmospheres in terms of hardness, carbon control and dimensional changes.
The compaction and sintering behavior of zirconium titanate (ZrTiO4) was investigated by means of the measurement of sintering density and shrinkage, and the observation of microstructure. With increasing the content of Al2O3 additive, Al2O3-modified zirconium titanate samples fired at 1300oC showed the anisotropic shrinkage behavior that the upper region of sintered body has higher sintering shrinkage than the low region. This difference of sintering shrinkage decreased with increasing firing temperature from 1300 to 1400oC. The SEM micrographs of powder compation show that the anisotropic shrinkage behavior is related with non-uniform density in a uniaxial compaction.
Homogeneous microstructures of the PM compacts are difficult to attain when mixed elemental powders are used. This study examined the microstructures of pressed-and-sintered and MIM products that contain Ni and Mo.Ni-rich areas, which were lean in carbon and were soft and were found easily in regular specimens. Gaps or cracks near the Ni-rich or Mo-rich areas were also frequently observed. This problem worsened when Ni and Mo particles were large and were irregular in shape. By using ball milling treatment and ferroalloy powders, the microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties were improved. The addition of 0.5wt%Cr further improved the distribution of Ni because Cr reduced the repulsion effect between nickel and carbon. With the elimination of Ni-rich areas, more bainites and martensites were formed and mechanical properties were significantly improved.
Copper infiltration is demonstrated as a viable solution to achieve higher mechanical properties by filling the interconnected porosities of a ferrous structure with copper infiltrant. This paper will present the results of a design of experiments study based on the selected processing variables in the copper infiltration process. The variables are the following: Infiltrating temperatures, infiltrating time at pre-heat zone and hot zone, the green density of iron part, the migration of copper into the iron part at different processing conditions. The results show the flexibility of the infiltration process to attain certain mechanical properties by changing the processing conditions.
Recent research at Harbin Institute of Technology on the synthesis of nanocrystalline and untrafine grained materials by mechanical alloying/milling is reviewed. Examples of the materials include aluminum alloy, copper alloy, magnesium-based hydrogen storage material, and Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe magnetic nanocomposite. Details of the processes of mechanical alloying and consolidation of the mechanically alloyed nanocrystalline powder materials are presented. The microstructure characteristics and properties of the synthesized materials are addressed.
Solid-state processing via the bulk mechanical alloying enables us to directly fabricate Mg2X semi-conductive material performs. Precise control of chemical composition leads to investigation on the dilution and enrichment of X in Mg2X. Two types of solid-state reactivity are introduced: e.g. synthesis of Mg2Si from elemental mixture Mg – Si is nucleation-controlled process while synthesis of Mg2Sn from Mg – Sn, diffusion-controlled process. Thermoelectricity of these Mg2X is evaluated for discussion on the validity and effectiveness of this new PM route as a reliable tool for fabrication of thermoelectric compounds.
Manganese is an alloying element that improves the hardenability of steels. It could be a valid substitute in sintered steels, increasing mechanical properties. The hardenability of three low alloy Mn steels was studied to establish the influence of manganese on the heat treatments. The Grossmann approach was adopted, which uses cylinders with different diameters to induce different gradients of cooling rate in the cross section. The correlation of microstructure and microhardness to the actual cooling rate makes the results independent on the process parameters and applicable to each industrial condition, once the actual cooling rate in the parts is known.
A CCT diagram for Cr-Mo prealloyed sintered steels suitable for sinter hardening was established by combining dilatometry data, microstructural studies and microhardness measurements of the material. CCT diagrams deepen the understanding of material properties after sinter hardening and support the design of materials on an industrial scale by providing information about required cooling rates for successful sinter hardening of these materials.
Sintering behavior of the Fe-0.8Mn-0.5C powder system was studied on the specimens with a density of ~7.0 g/cc sintered at 11200C for 30 min in a gas mixture of 7%H2/93%N2 with the inlet dew point of -600C. During the atmosphere monitoring (CO/CO2-content and dew point) was showed, that carbothermical reduction occurs in two different temperature ranges; three peaks of dew point profile also can be distinguished during sintering cycle as well. Following sintering the Mn-content distribution and microstructures around the Mn-source were micro-analytical evaluated; the results showed that manganese travels through porous iron matrix up to ~60 μm.
In high-performance cold work applications, tool failure depends on the predominating loading conditions. Typical failure mechanisms are a combination of abrasive wear, adhesive wear, plastic deformation, cracking and edge crumbling. In this paper we demonstrate how the microstructure of tool steels can be positively influenced by modifying the alloying system and the production route to meet the demands of the different loading situations which occur during operation. The investigation was focused on ductility, fatigue strength and wear resistance. Theoretical considerations were confirmed by practical tests.
For microelectronic circuits, the main type of failure is thermal fatigue. Therefore, the search for matched coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of packaging materials in combination with a high thermal conductivity is the main task for developments of heat sink materials electronics, and good mechanical properties are also required. The aim of this work is to develop copper matrix composites reinforced with carbon nanofibers to meet these requirements. In this paper, a technology for obtaining a homogeneous mixture of copper and nanofibers will be presented and the microstructure and properties of consolidated samples will be discussed.
The composite used in this paper was prepared by hot-pressing ball-milled Mg alloy powders, in which NiTi shape memory alloy fibers in a row were sandwiched. The microstructure and property were examined. It is shown that the composite consisted of a homogenous matrix with uniformly distributed NiTi shape memory alloy fibers, recrystallization took place in the Mg alloy matrix which was subjected to plastic deformation an adequate bonding formed between the matrix and fibers; the density and tensile strength of the composite increased after the hot-forging; the hot-forging process is capable of improving properties of the composite.