Correlations Between Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Sintering Parameters for PM Steels

摘要

Sintering intensity is a key factor for the production process of PM steels. The industry tries to maximise the output of the furnaces by maximal loading and minimal sintering time. Nevertheless, the required mechanical properties have to be reached. In case of damage or failure of components the effective sintering parameters (i.e. sintering intensity) very often are a matter of discussion. This work tries to correlate experimental data concerning the mechanical, physical properties and microstructural development of sintered steels to sintering parameters to identify measurable properties or microstructural features that can help to trace unknown sintering parameters. For Fe-0.85Mo-0.6C and Fe-2Cu-0.8C, combinations of properties have been identified which allow a sound estimation of the sintering parameters applied to the respective PM steels. It is shown that for different types of PM steels, different properties have to be checked since the sintering mechanism has a huge influence on the development of the mechanical properties.