Chromium Alloyed PM Steels – Cost-Effective High Performance Material Solutions
Cost-effective material solutions with high performance will be required to continue to grow the PM industry and expand the use of PM into more demanding applications. Chromium alloyed PM steels combine excellent mechanical properties with good dimensional stability, as well as stable alloying costs when compared to traditional Mo/Ni alloyed material. Sustainability is also becoming a more important factor in the selection of material and processing conditions. Utilizing the PM process with chromium materials is proven to be a sustainable solution with less influence on the environment. The combination with the sinter-hardening process makes chromium material even more competitive. By
increasing the conventional sintering temperature of 1120 ºC to a higher temperature of 1250 ºC, the properties of chromium materials can be developed further. In this study, some chromium alloyed materials will be presented and the properties achieved after conventional sintering at both 1120 ºC and 1250 ºC are discussed. The environmental impact of chromium material and high performance applications which utilize chromium alloyed PM steels will also be described.