MORPHOLOGICAL AND MICROSTRUCTURAL FEATURES OF Al-BASED ALLOYED POWDERS FOR POWDER-METALLURGY APPLICATIONS

摘要

Besides advanced nano steels, polymers and ceramics, recently also light metals, i.e., Al, Mg and Ti based materials, have been recognized as future materials for different kinds of advanced applications. Al and its alloys have an acceptable price, excellent corrosive resistance, good mechanical and other physical properties. Therefore, they are also used in the powder-metallurgy (P/M) field. The P/M technology of Al materials is very demanding and has its own specifics compared to the sintering technology of iron and steel. A relatively large quantity of Al-based alloy powder is formed during the sand blasting of slugs and discs in the Talum Al factory, Kidricevo, Slovenia. Therefore, we analysed and investigated its practical usability for a production of advanced products using P/M technology. The formed Al-based powder was compared with the commercially available Al-based powders that are generally used for conventional sintering technology. In the first part of this paper we explain which types of Al-based powders are used for the production of sintered parts, what the required parameters are and why we considered them. Then, the results of theoretical thermodynamic analyses and investigations of the morphological and microstruc-tural characteristics of the selected commercial Al-based powders are given, as well as their comparison with the Al powder formed during the sand blasting and its potential for P/M applications.