2000/11/1 Pressing & Sintering

Different Means to Improve Consistency of Material Properties and Tolerances of Low-Alloyed Steels

EURO PM2000, in Münich, Germany. Author: Mats Larsson. The strength of the P/M technique is to produce components to net shape. Even if the components are pressed to final shape additional machining or sizing operations are in many cases needed to achieve the desired tolerance class. These additional operations increase the production costs. If dimensional scatter can be reduced the P/M route to produce components becomes more competitive in comparison with other manufacturing techniques. Different alloying techniques are available in powder metallurgy. Alloying elements can be admixed, organically bonded in the mixes, diffusion bonded to the iron powders or pre-alloyed. Often combinations of these techniques are utilized. These techniques have different pros and cons with respect to compressibility, dimensional stability and mechanical properties of the sintered material. In this presentation a comparison of different alloying techniques is made focusing on dimensional stability.