Pulsed Electric Current Sintering of FeS Powder

Hot hammer forging is a useful manufacturing process for producing mechanical parts with excellent mechanical properties. One of the problems in this forming process is seizure between die and work-piece. It does not only decrease quality of the products and the productivity but also put a worker in danger. In order to avoid the seizure in forging process, sulfonitriding to die surface has been often applied. The surface treatment provides a nitrided zone with a sulfide layer as a top layer. The nitrided zone has higher hardness of the die while the sulfide layer improves anti-seizure ability and decreases the friction coefficient. The sulfide layer on the die surface is constituted of Iron sulfide (FeS). However, mechanical and physical properties of FeS have not been investigated yet. In the present study, pulsed electric current sintering of FeS powder was studied to fabricate dense sintered bodies of bulk FeS for evaluating physical and mechanical properties. Some mechanical properties such as Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of sintered FeS were evaluated in the present report.