Carbide Nanoparticle Dispersion Techniques for Metal Powder Metallurgy

Bahrum Prang Rocky,Gregory B Thompson,Christopher R Weinberger,Steven R Daniewicz

doi:10.3390/met11060871

Bahrum Prang Rocky, Gregory B Thompson + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/met11060871

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Journal: Metals	Publication Date: May 26, 2021
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Alabama, Colorado State University

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NP) embedded into a matrix material have been shown to improve mechanical properties such as strength, hardness, and wear-resistance. However, the tendency of NPs to agglomerate in the powder mixing process is a major concern. This study investigates five different mechanochemical processing (MCP) routes to mitigate agglomeration to achieve a uniform dispersion of ZrC NPs in an Fe-based metal matrix composite. Our results suggest that MCP with only process controlling agents is ineffective in avoiding aggregation of these NPs. Instead, the uniformity of the carbide NP dispersion is achieved by pre-dispersing the NPs under ultrasonication using suitable surfactants followed by mechanically mixing of the NPs with iron powders in an alcohol solvent which is then dried. High-energy MCP is then used to embed the NPs within the powders. These collective steps resulted in a uniform dispersion of ZrC in the sintered (consolidated) Fe sample.

Highlights

IntroductionDifferent microparticles or nanoparticles (NPs) are used in metals to improve their strength, hardness, fracture toughness, durability, and corrosion resistance [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
As would be expected, increased milling times resulted in smaller crystallite sizes of the powders, with the crystallite sizes being proportional to the impacted energy of the milling mill used
This study has reported various powder metallurgy processing routes for the incorporation of NPs into a sintered, consolidated microstructure using ZrC NPs and Fe powders as the case example

Summary

Introduction

Different microparticles or nanoparticles (NPs) are used in metals to improve their strength, hardness, fracture toughness, durability, and corrosion resistance [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] Besides mechanical properties, these particles can influence chemical partitioning behavior within the material. Whether mechanical or chemical influence, the composition of the nano-particulate phase is crucial In some cases, these particulates do not necessarily achieve the desired structure and/or composition from a precipitation sequence within the matrix material itself. These particulates do not necessarily achieve the desired structure and/or composition from a precipitation sequence within the matrix material itself In such cases, the dispersion of particulates with a tailored phase is needed through a powder metallurgy route. Achieving a uniform dispersion requires overcoming the natural tendency of the NPs to agglomerate during mixing [13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21]

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