Metal-additive manufacturing techniques, such as selective laser sintering (SLS), are increasingly utilized for new biomaterials, such as cobalt-chrome (Co-Cr). In this study, Co-Cr gas-atomized powders are used as charge materials for the SLS process. The aim is to understand the consolidation of Co-Cr alloy powder and characterization of samples sintered using SLS under various conditions. The results clearly suggest that besides the matrix phase, the second phase, which is attributed to pores and oxidation particles, is observed in the sintered specimens. The as-built samples exhibit completely different microstructural features compared with the casting or wrought products reported in the literature. The microstructure reveals melt pools, which represent the characteristics of the scanning direction, in particular, or of the SLS conditions, in general. It also exposes extremely fine grain sizes inside the melt pools, resulting in an enhancement in the hardness of the as-built products. Thus, the hardness values of the samples prepared by SLS under all parameter conditions used in this study are evidently higher than those of the casting products.

In the present study, we investigated the austenite stability of a sintered Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy. The volume fraction of austenite was measured based on the X-ray diffraction data of sintered Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys, which were prepared by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering. The sintered alloy samples showed a higher volume fraction of austenite at room temperature as compared to the equilibrium volume fraction of austenite obtained using thermodynamic calculations, which resulted from the nanosized crystalline structure of the sintered alloy. It was proved that the austenite stability of the sintered Fe-based alloy increased with a rise in the amount of austenite stabilizing elements such as Mn, Ni, and C; however, it increased more effectively with a decrease in the actual grain size. Furthermore, we proposed a new equation to predict the martensite starting temperature for sintered Fe-based alloys.

Phosphorus is an element that plays many important roles in powder metallurgy as an alloy element. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of phosphorus addition on the microstructures and mechanical properties of sintered low-alloy steel. The sintered low-alloy steels Fe-0.6%C-3.89%Ni-1.95%Cu-1.40%Mo-xP (x=0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20%) were manufactured by compacting at 700 MPa, sintering in H2-N2 at 1260℃, rapid cooling, and low-temperature tempering in Ar at 160℃. The microstructure, pore, density, hardness, and transverse rupture strength (TRS) of the sintered low-alloy steels were evaluated. The hardness increased as the phosphorus content increased, whereas the density and TRS showed maximum values when the content of P was 0.05%. Based on microstructure observation, the phase of the microstructure changed from bainite to martensite as the content of phosphorus is increased. Hence, the most appropriate addition of phosphorus in this study was 0.05%.

A lean alloy is defined as a low alloy steel that minimizes the content of the alloying elements, while maintaining the characteristics of the sintered alloy. The purpose of this study is to determine the change in microstructure and mechanical properties due to the addition of silicon or tin in Fe-Mo-P, Fe-Mn-P, and Fe-Mo-Mn-P alloys. Silicon- or tin-added F-Mo-P, Fe-Mn-P, and Fe-Mo-Mn-P master alloys were compacted at 700 MPa and subsequently sintered under a H2-N2 atmosphere at 1120oC. The sintered density of three alloy systems decreases under the same compacting pressure due to dimensional expansion with increasing Si content. As the diffusion rate in the Fe- P-Mo system is higher than that in the Fe-P-Mn system, the decrease in the sintered density is the largest in the Fe-PMn system. The sintered density of Sn added alloys does not change with the increasing Sn content due to the effect of non-dimensional changes. However, the effect of Si addition on the transverse rupture strengthening enhancement is stronger than that of Sn addition in these lean alloys.

A lean alloy is defined as a low alloy steel with a minimum amount of the alloying element that maintains the characteristics of the sintered alloy. It is well known that the addition of elements such as Cr, P, Si, or Mn improves the mechanical characteristics of the alloy, but decreases the sinterability. The mother alloy is used to avoid an oxidation reaction with the alloying elements of Cr, P, Si or Mn. The purpose of this study is to determine the change in the mechanical properties of Fe-P-Mo and Fe-P-Mn alloys as a result of the addition of Si. In this article, the Fe-P-Mo and Fe-P-Mn alloys to which Si is added are compacted at 7.0 g/cm3 and then sintered in H2-N2 at 1120℃. The P around the macropores and large grains reduces due to the formation of SiO2 as the Si content increases. This is caused by the increase in strength owing to reducing intergranular fracture by suppressing the reaction with oxygen.

Ni-W(1-5 at.%) alloy rods were made by powder metallurgy process including powder mixing, compacting and subsequent sintering. Ni and W powder of appropriate compositions were mixed by a ball milling and isostatically pressed in a rubber mold into a rod. The compacted rods were sintered at at a reduced atmosphere for densification. The lattice parameters of Ni-W alloys were estimated by a high resolution neutron powder diffractometer. All sintered rods were found to have a face centered cubic structure without any impurity phase, but the diffraction peak locations were linearly shifted with increasing W content. The lattice parameter of a pure Ni rod was which is consistent with the value reported in JCPDS data. The lattice parameter of N-W alloy rods increased by for 1 atomic % of W, which indicates the formation of a Ni-W solid solution due to the substitution of nickel atoms by tungsten atoms of larger size.

The mechanical properties of sintered low alloy steels were analysed using Finite Element Methods (FEM), in which the powder is modelled as an elastic–plastic continuum material. A quantitative analysis of microstructure was correlated with tensile and fatigue behavior to understand the influence of pore size, shape, and distribution on mechanical behavior. Tensile strength, Young’s modulus, strain-to-failure, and fatigue strength all increased with a decrease in porosity. The decrease in Young’s modulus with increasing porosity was predicted by analytical modeling. Two-dimensional microstructure-based finite element modeling showed that the enhanced tensile and fatigue behavior of the denser steels could be attributed to smaller, more homogeneous, and more spherical porosity which resulted in more homogeneous deformation and decreased strain localization in the material. The relationship between relative density of P/M steels and mechanical behavior is also obtained from FEA and compared with the experimenta data. Good agreement between the experimental and FEA results is observed, which demonstrates that FEA can capture the major features of the P/M steels behaviour during loading. The implications of pore size, morphology, and distribution on the mechanical behavior and fracture of P/M steels are discussed. It is therefore demonstrated that FEA can predict the possible mechanism of failure during loading.

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.

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.

A new method has been developed to fabricate microcomponents by a combination of photolithography and sintering of metallic powder mixtures, without the need for compression and the addition of Mg. This involves (1) the fabrication of a micromould, (2) mould filling of the powder/binder mixture, (3) debinding and (3) sintering. The starting powdered materials consisted of a mixture of aluminium powder(average size of 2.5 um) and alloying elemental powder of Cu and Sn(less than 70nm), at appropriate proportions to achieve nominal compositions of Al-6wt%Cu, Al-6wt%Cu-3wt%Sn. This paper presents detailed investigation of debinding behaviour and microstructural development.

The corrosion performance of a powder metallurgical aluminum alloy in aeronautical environments was studied for both as sintered and heat treated states. Sintered samples were obtained by uniaxial pressing of an Al-Cu-Mg prealloyed powder followed by liquid phase sintering. The heat treatments applied were T4 and T6. Corrosion behaviour was assessed by means of potentiodynamic polarization. Results for the equivalent commercial wrought counterpart, AA2024-T3, are also presented for comparison. Similar corrosion performance was observed for both as sintered and AA2024-T3 samples, while corrosion resistance of the PM materials was improved by the heat treatment, especially in the T4 state.

The influence of porosity (P) on Young's modulus (E) and Poisson's ratio of sintered steels produced from four types of steel powders was investigated. The values of E and depend mainly on the value of P, and those were a little affected by alloying elements. The relationships between E, , and P were described as following equations: and , where subscript 0 means P = 0, and and are empirical constants. These approximate equations showed good agreement with empirical results.

Machinability and machining mechanism were examined in the case where resin impregnation treatment was conducted to the Mo-Co hardening particle dispersed iron-based sintered alloy. As a result, the force required for machining decreased significantly compared with the case where resin impregnation treatment was not conducted. This effect is considered to be attributable to the embrittlement of cutting chips produced by the minimization of the cut material deformation.

We have studied the effect of C/Ti atomic ratio of TiCx (x=0.5, 0.75 and 1.0) raw powder on the properties of the Ti-Mo-WTiC sintered hard alloy. The decrease of C/Ti atomic ratio accelerated the densification in the sintering process. The hardness was remarkably improved up to 1350HV with decreasing the C/Ti atomic ratio because of increase of TiCx phase volume content and its fine dispersion. From the results of electro-chemical tests in acid and 3% NaCl solutions, it was obvious that every alloy had excellent corrosion resistance, which meant about 200 times better than that of WC-Co cemented carbide.

In order to investigate behavior of abnormal expansion of the iron-copper compacts, we compared the dilatometric curves of the compacts which mixed the copper powder to the iron powder with those of compacts which mixed the copper powder to the iron-copper alloy powder. The dilatometric curves were obtained below the sintering conditions, which heated up to 115 by a heating rate of 1/min, held for 60min at 115 and cooled down at a rate of 2/min to room temperature. The dilatometric curves of the compacts showed the different expansion behavior at temperatures above the copper melting point in spite of same chemical composition. All of the compacts of former case showed large expansion, but all of the compacts in latter case showed large contraction. The microstructures of sintered compacts also showed the different progress in alloying of the copper into the iron powder. Namely we could observe the segregation at alloy part of copper into iron powder in case of the sintered compacts, which mixed the copper powder to the iron powder, but could not observe the segregation in compacts which mixed the copper powder to the iron-copper alloy powder. But the penetration of liquid copper into the interstices between solid particles was occurred at both cases. Therefore, the showing of the different dimensional changes in the compacts in spite of same chemical composition is due to more the alloying of copper into iron powder than the penetration of liquid copper into the interstices between solid particles.