Compaction and Heat Treatment Effects on the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Sintered Fe<sub>3</sub>C-W-Co Alloys

Abstract

In this article, the 75Fe3C-20W-5Co alloy is developed by the powder metallurgy technique in order to study the microstructure and the mechanical properties obtained after solid phase sintering. The mechanical grinding of the mixture of these Fe3C-W-Co powders lasted 6 hours.The powders were compressed by cold isostatic pressing (CIP) at different compaction pressures (5MPa, 10MPa, 15MPa and 18MPa). The green compacts obtained were sintered at a temperature equal to 1350 °C, followed by a heat treatment at different temperatures (850 °C, 950 °C and 1100 °C). The samples were then cooled in different baths (oil and water). The characterization of this sintered steel alloy was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and with an optical microscope. The results reveal that the structure of these sintered alloys consisted of the Fe matrix phase and the W-Co solid solution phase. The compaction pressure influences the number and size of the pores. Hardness and wear resistance increase with increasing compaction pressure.