Abstract
Increasing density is one approach to improve the performance of PM components. Lower lubricant contents are often required to increase the compressibility of a mix, and heating of the tool die can help to achieve sufficient lubrication with less lubricant. Chromium prealloyed powders are also a cost effective means of achieving high mechanical strength. However, solution hardening effects mean that prealloyed mixes have lower compressibilities than those based on pure iron powders, making Cr alloyed powder more demanding to compact and requiring more efficient lubricants. The performance of an efficient lubricant system developed for demanding applications is compared with that of amide wax in mixes based on chromium alloyed powders, including for compaction of multi-level components under production conditions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.