SINTERED Fe-Ni-Cu-Sn-C ALLOYS MADE OF BALL-MILLED POWDERS

The main objective of this paper was to perform sinterability studies of ball-milled Fe-12% Ni-6.4% Cu-1.6% Sn-0.6% C powders. A mixture of precisely weighed amounts of elemental iron, nickel and graphite, and pre-alloyed 80/20 bronze powders was ball-milled for 8, 30 and 120 hours. After cold-pressing at 400 MPa the specimens were sintered at 900 degrees C for 30 minutes in a reducing atmosphere and subsequently tested for density and hardness as well as subjected to structural studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The obtained results showed that only the powder ball-milled for 120 hours yielded a near pore-free material after consolidation by cold pressing and pressureless sintering at 900 degrees C. As such, it could have a potential to be used in production of diamond-impregnated wire saw beads.