09/04/2017 Pressing & Sintering

Sinter hardening material solutions for high performance applications

Sinter hardening has been one of the ways to obtain high performance PM low alloyed steel components. The control of the final microstructure and consequently of the mechanical performance of the components is acquired by the suitable process route optimization, namely the cooling rate. The sinter hardening process therefore requires materials with sufficient hardenability which in turn is achieved by chemical composition optimization. This paper presents the properties of a number of materials suitable for sinter hardening processes with regard to mechanical performance as well as material characteristics such as Jominy hardenability tests and CCT diagrams. The materials composition and the respective mechanical properties are correlated by means of metallographic investigation.