The sinter-bonding behavior of iron based powder mixtures was investigated. To produce the green compacts to be joined the following powders based on AB grade NC 100.24 plain iron powder were used: NC 100.24 as delivered, PNC 30, PNC 60 and NC 100.24 + 4%Cu powder mixtures. Dimensional behaviour of all those materials during the sintering cycle was monitored by dilatometry. Simple ring shaped specimens as the outer parts and cylindrical as the inner parts were pressed. The influence of parts' composition on joining strength was established. Diffusion of alloying elements: copper and phosphorous, across the bonding surface was controlled by metallography, SEM and microanalysis.

Nd-Fe-B type powder was sintered using spark plasma sintering method. Fabricated compact sintered at the temperature of , is found to be a composite magnet with Nd-Fe-Co-B and . The compact sintered at shows slightly low coercivity and large remanent magnetization comparing to the compact sintered at due to the formation of phase, resulting in the large maximum energy product. Maximum energy product tends to decrease with decreasing thickness of sintered compacts below 0.5 mm in thickness.

We present a systematic study of the heating and pre-sintering behavior of porous copper powder metal compacts. We employ a TE102 single mode microwave system to position the samples in the separated electric field (E) or magnetic field (H) anti-node of the cavity. We observe significant differences in the heating, pre-sintering, and microstructure evolution of the samples due to the individual fields. We note that sample history (whether heated first in the E-field or H-field) greatly effects a difference in heating trends and subsequent heating behavior and does not appear to be solely a thermal process.

The behaviour of steel powder compacts during sintering has been investigated by dilatometry and X-ray computed microtomography. Dilatometry measurements showed that the anisotropic deformation results from various phenomena arising at different moments of the cycle including the delubrication stage. Microtomography provided 3D images of the microstructure induced by prior die pressing and its changes throughout sintering. Finally a schematic description of the main phenomena responsible for the deformation of metal powder compacts during sintering is proposed.

Cylindrical specimens with different levels of density have been submitted to uniaxial compression tests with loading and unloading cycles. The analysis of the elastic loadings shows a non linear elasticity which can be mathematically represented by means of a potential law. Results are explained by assuming that the total elastic strain is the contribution of two terms one deriving from the hertzian deformation of the contacts among particles and another that takes into account the linear elastic deformation of the powder skeleton. A simple model based in an one pore unit cell is presented to support the mathematical model.

The results of monotonic and cyclic uniaxial compression tests, in which the deviatoric component of the stress is predominant, carried out on green and recrystallized iron compacts with different levels of density are presented and discussed in order to analyse the macro and micro-mechanisms governing the mechanical behaviour of non-sintered PM materials. The plastic deformation of the particles, especially at the contact areas between neighbouring grains, produces an internal friction responsible for the main features observed in the behaviour of green metallic compacts. These results show important discrepancies with the plasticity models, Cam-Clay and Drucker-Prager Cap.

A developed molybdenum hybrid-alloyed steel powder is based on a molybdenum prealloyed steel powder to which molybdenum powder particles are diffusion bonded. The sintered compact made of this powder has a finer pore structure than that of the conventional molybdenum prealloyed steel powder, because the ferritic iron phase with a high diffusion coefficient is formed in the sintering necks where molybdenum is concentrated resulting in enhanced sintering. The rolling contact fatigue strength of the sintered and carburized compacts made of this powder improved by a factor of 3.6 compared with that of the conventional powder due to the fine pore structures.

Anisotropic constitutive equations for sintering of metal powder compacts have been formulated from a linear viscous transversely-isotropic model in which an anisotropic sintering stress has been introduced to describe free sintering densification kinetics. The identification of material parameters defined in the model, has been achieved from thermomechanical experiments performed on 316L stainless steel warm-compacted powder in a dilatometer allowing controlled compressive loading.

Dry sliding wear behavior of electro-pressure sintered Co-Fe and Co-Ni compacts was investigated. Pin-on-disk wear tests were performed on the sintered Co-Fe, Co-Ni disks against alumina balls at various loads ranging from 3N to 12N. A constant sliding speed of 0.1m/sec was employed. Wear rate was calculated by dividing the weight loss of a specimen by the measured specific gravity and sliding dis-tance. Worn surfaces and cross-sections of the specimens were examined using an SEM and EDS to investigate wear mechanism of the compacts. The wear behavior of the compacts were discussed as a function of their com-position. Effects of mechancial properties of the compact as well as oxide layers formed on wearing surface on the wear were also discussed

The high temperature deformation behavior of the activated sintered W powder compacts was investigated. The W compact showed the relative density of 94% with the average W grain size of by activated sintering at for 1 hour. Compression tests were carried out in the temperature range of at the strain rate range of /sec - /sec. True stress-strain curve and microstructure exhibited the grain boundary brittleness which was dependent on the compression test temperature. The activated sintered W compact showed that the maximum stress as well as the strain at the maximum stress was abruptly decreased as the test temperature increase from to 1000 and regardless of the strain rate. The discrepancy of the microstructure in the specimen center was obviously observed with the increase of the test temperature. After compression test at the W grain was severely deformed normally against the compression axis. However, after compression test at and the W grain was not deformed, but the microcrack was formed in the W grain boundary. The Ni-rich second phase segregated along the W grain boundary could be partly unstable over and affect the poor mechanical property of the activated sintered W compact.