Effect of heat treatment on properties of sinter forged Fe-Cu-C-Cr steel

Abstract

Powder metallurgy is industrially well appreciated manufacturing technique. Many components are now manufactured by powder metallurgical route than conventional manufacturing techniques. It is customary for wrought steels to compare the properties of alloy in austempered condition with that in hardened and tempered condition. However limited data is available for austempered powder metallurgical components. In this work sinter forging technique is used to prepare samples from metal powders and subjected to austempering as well as conventional hardening and tempering heat treatments. Effect of these heat treatments on the microstructure, hardness and wear properties of Fe-2Cu-0.7C-2Cr sinter forged alloy are studied. From the results it is concluded that though hardness in hardened and tempered condition is lower (26 HRc) than that of austempered condition (39 HRc) its wear performance is better. 2019 Rockefeller University Press. All rights reserved.