Determination of borides in Fe-Mo-B sintered powders using diffraction methods

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Modification of sintered iron with the addition of molybdenum and boron leads to the formation of boride phases that significantly impact the properties of the sintered materials. The paper aims to determine Fe-Mo-B phases that might be formed during the sintering of base powders. With EDS microanalysis, determining those phases in the microstructure is difficult since the B-Kα peak is extremely close to Mo-Mζ (only a 9.3 eV difference). Thus, diffraction techniques must be implemented to unambiguously define the phases occurring in the sintered samples (WDS and EBSD).The sintered samples were obtained from initial powders of Fe, Mo, and B that were mixed and compressed. The reducing hydrogen atmosphere was used to sinter green samples at 1200C for 60 minutes. The obtained sinters were subjected to microstructural observations by scanning electron microscope, and some analyses (EDS/WDS and EBSD) were conducted, which led to the determination of phases present in the material.Based on the investigations conducted, iron, molybdenum, and molybdenum-iron borides have been reported. It is confirmed with the EBSD method that Fe2B, MoB and FeMo2B2 phases are formed in particles’ connection regions. Besides, the interparticle region, formed due to a liquid phase during sintering, is based on Fe-Fe2B eutectic. The microstructural observations prove that the amount of the liquid phase, and thus the size of the interparticle region, diminishes with increasing molybdenum content. It was also noted that the iron matrix (interior of former iron particles) is free from contributing elements coming from boron or molybdenum powders.The application of the EDS method is limited in the case of measuring boron in Mo-containing alloys and phases. The EDS method does not have a sufficient energetic resolution to separate the B-Kα line from Mo-Mζ one. Thus, it must be complemented with WDS and EBSD in order to unambiguously determine the presence and localization of iron and molybdenum borides.It can be stated that WDS has sufficient energy resolution to separate B-Kα from Mo-Mζ emission lines. Therefore, WDS analysis is suitable for boride observation in sintered iron powders by constructing distribution maps of interparticle connection regions and precipitates. Besides, measurements by the EBSD method can be used to confirm the presence of Fe2B, MoB and FeMo2B2 phases.Determination of boron-containing phases in Fe-Mo-B sinters by means of diffraction methods.