The Effects of Sintering Schedule to the Final Properties of Iron Powder Compacts Formed through Warm Compaction Route

Powder forming at above ambient temperature with admixed lubricant to obtain the high quality green compacts is recently discovered, however the effects of sintering schedule to the mechanical properties and microstructures of final products are not explored yet. Therefore, a lab scale warm compaction rig is designed and fabricated to generate green compacts at different forming parameters. Iron ASC 100.29 is used as main powder constituent during this investigation. The defect-free green compacts were sintered in an argon gas fired furnace at different sintering schedule. The mechanical properties and microstructures of sintered parts were evaluated. The results revealed that the mechanical properties and microstructures of sintered products are affected by the forming temperature and sintering schedule. Therefore, the suitable forming temperature and sintering schedule are identified for the production of high quality components