2016/10/11 Pressing & Sintering

Means to Control Case Depth of Carburized PM-steels

Carburizing of PM‐steels is a relatively fast process and the main reason for it is the presence of porosity. In order to have good control of this process, it is of utmost importance that carbon potential, temperature, time at temperature and carbon source used is accurately controlled so no through carburization will occur in particular as the material consists of interconnected porosity. Porosity also has, due to its effect on thermal conductivity, influence on relative hardenability which further adds important considerations in how to perform the heat treatment process. The purpose of this paper is to guide those being involved in the heat treatment process of PM‐steels how to practically consider when planning carburizing of PM‐steels. Here, 2 common types of PM materials having different shapes and densities of 7.00‐ and 7.25 g/cc respectively are investigated with the purpose to achieve successful processing.