The effect of tempering temperature and microstructure on dry sliding wear behavior of quenched and tempered PM with 0.3% graphite and 1-2% Ni steels was investigated. The sintered specimens were quenched from 890℃ and then tempered at 200℃ and 600℃ for 1 hr. Wear tests were carried out on the quenched＋tempered specimens under dry sliding wear conditions using a pin-on-disk type machine at constant load and speed. The experimental results showed that the wear coefficient effectively increased with increasing tempering temperature and decreased with increasing Ni content.

The mixed atomized iron powders with 0.3% graphite and 1% Ni powders were cold pressed and sintered at for 30 min under pure Ar gas atmosphere. Some of the sintered specimens were intercritically annealed at and quenched in water (single quenching). The other sintered specimens were first fully austenized at and water quenched. These specimens were then intercritically annealed at and re-quenched in water. The experimental results showed that the wear coefficient effectively decreased in the double quenched specimen.

Powder grades pre-alloyed with 1.5-3 wt% chromium can be successfully sintered at the conventional temperature although well-monitored sintering atmospheres are required to avoid oxidation. Mechanical properties of the Cr-alloyed PM grades are enhanced by a higher sintering temperature in the range , due to positive effects from pore rounding, increased density and more effective oxide reduction. Astaloy CrM (Fe-3 wt% Cr-0.5 wt% Mo) with 0.6 wt% graphite added obtains an ultimate tensile strength of 1470 MPa and an impact strength of 31 J at density , after sintering at followed by cooling at and tempering.

The densification behavior during a sintering of M2 and T15 grade high speed steel powder compacts was reported. Sintered densities over 98% theoretical were achieved by a liquid phase sintering in vacuum for both grades. The optimum sintering temperature range where full densification could be achieved without excessive carbide coarsening and incipient melting was much narrower in M2 than in T15 grade. The sintering response was mainly affected by the type of carbides present. The primary carbides in M2 were identified as type whereas those in T15 were MC type which provides wider sintering range. The addition of elemental carbon up to 0.3% lowered the optimum sintering temperature for both grades, but had little effect on expanding the sintering range and sintered structure.