2011-10-10 Pressing & Sintering

Cost Effective Material for Heat Treated Gear Applications

Heat treatment of PM components is often used in order to meet requirements on high hardness and other mechanical properties. Traditional processes such as quench and temper, case carburizing and induction hardening are well known routes to meet these requirements. Traditional PM materials for heat treatment often include Copper, Nickel, or Molybdenum in quantities of totally 2-6%. In the light of recent cost increases for these alloying elements these materials are becoming less competitive compared to solid steel process routes. A new diffusion alloyed steel powder having a lean alloy composition has been designed to perform well in different heat treatment operations. This paper describes the performance of this new powder in commonly used heat treatment operations. Static and dynamic properties achieved both with test specimens and components will be presented.