Effect of Die Wall Lubrication on Warm Compaction Powder Metallurgy

Die wall lubrication was applied on warm compaction powder metallurgy in hope to reduce the concentration level of the admixed lubricant since lubricant is harmful to the mechanical property of the sintered materials. Iron-based samples were prepared by die wall lubricated warm compaction at 135 ℃ and 175 ℃, using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) emulsion as die wall lubricant. A compacting pressure of 700 MPa and 550 MPa were used. The admixed lubricant concentration ranging from 0 to 0.6 wt.% was used in this study. Compared with non-die wall lubricated samples, the die wall lubricated samples have higher green densities. Results show that in addition to the decrease in ejection forces, green density of the compacts increased linearly with the decrease in admixed lubricant content. Mechanical property of the sintered compacts increase sharply when the admixed lubricant concentration reduced to 0.125 wt.% or less. Ejection force data indicated that samples with die wall lubrication show lower ejection forces when compared with samples without die wall lubrication. No scoring was observed in all experiments even for samples contain no admixed lubricant. Our results indicated that under experimental condition used in this study, no matter at which compaction pressure, compaction temperature, graphite and lubricant contents in the powder the die wall lubricated warm compaction would give the highest green density and lowest ejection force. It can be concluded that combination of die wall lubrication and warm compaction can provide P/M products with higher density and better quality. It is a feasible way to produce high performance P/M parts if suitable die wall lubrication system was applied.

Magnetic properties and thermal stability of anisotropic bonded Nd-Fe-B magnets by warm compaction

Anisotropic bonded magnets were prepared by warm compaction using anisotropic Nd-Fe-B powder. The forming process, magnetic properties, and temperature stability were studied. The results indicate that the optimal temperature of the process, which was decided by the vis-cosity of the binders, was 110°C. With increasing pressure, the density of the magnets increased. When the pressure was above 700 MPa, the powder particles were destroyed and the magnetic properties decreased. The magnetic properties of the anisotropic bonded magnets were as follows： remanence Br=0.98 T, intrinsic coercivity iHc=1361 kA/m, and maximum energy product BHmax=166 kJ/m3. The magnets had excellent thermal stability because of the high coercivity and good squareness of demagnetization curves. The flux density of the magnets was 35% higher than that of isotropic bonded Nd-Fe-B magnets at 120°C for 1000 h. The flux density of the bonded magnets showed little change with regard to temperature.

Research of warm compaction technology on nylon bonded Nd-Fe-B magnets

Warm compaction and room temperature compaction were applied to prepare bonded Nd-Fe-B magnets. The results indicated that the density of magnet was determined by the compaction pressure and warm compaction temperature, whereas, the thermosetting temperature could hardly affect the density of magnet. The mechanical properties of magnets were the best when the thermosetting temperature was 200 ℃. The Br, Hob, and （BH）max of warm compaction magnet were higher than those of room compaction. When the warm compaction temperature and thermosetting temperature were invariable, the density of magnet increased with the increase of compaction pressure, which resulted in the increase of Br, Hcb, and （BH）max of magnet and the decrease of Hcj of magnet. When the warm compaction temperature and compaction pressure were invariable, the magnetic properties of magnets decreased with the increase of thermosetting temperature. The magnetic properties of warm compaction molding magnets were better than those of injection molding magnets.

Lubrication effectiveness of composite lubricants during P/M electrostatic die wall lubrication and warm compaction

The lubrication effectiveness of the composite lubricants, 50wt% ethylene bis-stearamide （EBS） wax ＋50wt% graphite and 50wt% EBS wax ＋ 50wt% BN, during the powder metallurgy （P/M） electrostatic die wall lubrication and warm compaction was studied. The results show that the combination of 50wt% EBS wax and 50wt% graphite has excellent lubrication performance, resulting in fairly high green densities, but the mixture of 50wt% EBS wax and 50wt% BN has less beneficial effect. In addition, corresponding die temperatures should be applied when different die wall lubricants are used to achieve the highest green densities.

Phenomenological Modeling of Warm Compaction and Experimental Verification

A phenomenological modeling approach to establishing the warm compaction equation and curves by modifying the regression equation of the room-temperature compaction curve is presented. An enhanced factor of compacting pressure is introduced into the equation in order to reveal the effects of powder/die temperature and filling height of powders on green density. Compaction curves yielded from this equation are consistent with the experimental data of ATOMET grade iron powders. The curves show that the powder/ die temperature should reduce as the filling heights of powders increase and that in some cases warm compaction can not give rise to a higher green density.

Warm Compaction Process of P/M Steels by Orthogonal Testing Method

In order to achieve higher density of P/M steels using the die wall lubrication compacting method or powder lubricant in warm compaction process, the influence of different process parameters on the green density of warm compacted samples was studied. According to the orthogonal test method, the authors systematically study the influence of the different compaction pressure, condition of lubrication and compaction temperature on the green density of the sample in the warm compaction process, and put forward the optimal process parameter of warm compaction experiment. It is found that, a high compaction pressure （≥700 MPa）, die wall lubrication combined with a small amount of internal lubricants, and fitting compaction temperature by different condition of lubrication, are the optimal parameters in warm compaction process.

Predicting Equation for Adjusting Glass Temperature of Binder Used for P/M Warm Compaction Processing

Based on considering both negative effect of compacting pressure on glass temperature (Tg) and positiveeffect of plasticizer added into organic binder, a mathematical equation for adjusting Tg of binder used for warmcompaction processing is given. The equation shows that mass fraction of plasticizer need for lowering Tg is function of compacting plessure. The rationality of the equation for warm compaction processing is also discussed.

Structure of Grading a Resistor-Heated System of Warm Compaction in Powder Metallurgy

We present the scheme of the structure of grading a resistor-heated system ofwarm compaction in powder metallurgy. The structure has the first heater and the second heater thatare heated by electrical tubes. Powder is heated in turn in the first heater and the second heater,where there is the mass fluidity of powder under gravity. The dimensions of the first heater andthe second heater were calculated from the Fourier equation of heat conduction, and the boundarycondition was constant temperature. The drawings of the first heater, the second heater and thepowder-delivering device were given. The structure of the heat equipment is simple and easy tomanufacture. Finally, an exact warm compaction press system HGWY- II was developed for the heatingsystem.

Densification Mechanism of Warm Compaction and Powder Mixture Designing Rules

By phenomenological analysis of warm compaction, it is found that, compared with the contribution of particle plastical deformation to densification of powder compact,the particle rearrangement is a dominant densification mechanism for powder warm compaction, and the plastical deformation of particles plays an important role in offering accommodating deformation for particle rearrangement and densifying powder compact at the final stage of pressing.In order to attain density gain as high as possible during warm compaction, six rules for designing warm compacting powder mixtures were proposed in detail.

Warm compacted NbC particulate reinforced iron-base composite(Ⅰ)--Effect of fabrication parameters

NbC was used as reinforced particles in the fabrication of iron base composite. Ball milling was introduced to overcome the problems of agglomeration and powder separation during powder mixing. After ball milling, the fine NbC particles are embedded on the surface of iron particles and evenly distributed in the mixed powders. Warm compaction was used not only to increase the green density but also to improve the formability of the mixed powder and to improve the compact’s green strength to facilitate handling. The influences of fabrication parameters such as ball milling time, annealing temperature and time, warm compaction temperature, sintering temperature and sintering time were studied. Compacts with a relative sintered density of 97% and a tensile strength of more than 800?MPa can be obtained by using a ball milling time of 5?h, an annealing temperature of 800?℃, a compaction pressure of 600?MPa, warm compaction temperature of 120?℃, sintering temperature of 1?280?℃, and sintering time of 80?min. The shrinkage at this sintering condition was approximately 4.3%.

Study on mechanical properties of warm compacted iron-base materials

Mechanical properties of the warm compacted iron base powder metallurgy materials were compared with those of conventional cold compacted materials. Factors such as compaction temperature, lubricant concentration and lubricant′s property were studied. A lubricant for warm compaction powder metallurgy was developed. An iron based powder metallurgy material with a green density of 7.31 g/cm 3 (a relative density of 92.5%) can be obtained by pressing the powder at 700 MPa and 175 ℃. The sintered materials have a density of 7.2 g/cm 3, an elongation of 2.1% and a tensile strength of 751 MPa compared to 546 MPa using conventional cold compaction with the same lubricant and 655 MPa using warm compaction with other lubricant. Compact density and mechanical properties were influenced strongly by the compacting temperature. Although the best quality compacts can be obtained at 175 ℃, warm compaction within 165 to 185 ℃ can give high density compacts. Evidence shows that compact density depends on the friction coefficient of the lubricant.

Coupled mechanical and thermal simulation of warm compaction

Warm compaction process of pure iron powder was investigated. Due to the existence of elastic, plastic and thermal strains, a coupled mechanical and thermal model was applied. The elasto-plastic constitutive equations for powder material were developed based on ellipsoidal yield criterion and continuum theory. The constitutive equations were integrated into the constitutive integral arithmetic and solved employing incremental iterative solution strategy. The yield strength of iron powder was obtained according to the tensile experiments. When the compaction temperature was raised to 130 ℃, the yield strength of iron powder metal drops to 85% of room temperature value. Modified coulomb friction law is applied and the simulation results show that friction was an important factor resulting in the inhomogeneous relative density and reverse-density distribution phenomena in the regions near the die wall and the symmetrical axis.

Die wall lubricated warm compaction of iron-based powder metallurgy material

Lubricant is harmful to the mechanical properties of the sintered materials. Die wall lubrication was applied on warm compaction powder metallurgy in the hope of reducing the concentration level of the admixed lubricant. Iron based samples were prepared by die wall lubricated warm compaction at 175 ℃, using a compacting pressure of 550 MPa. Emulsified polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE) was used as die wall lubricant. Admixed lubricant concentration ranging from 0 to 0.5% was tested. Extremely low admixed lubricant contents were used. Results show that in addition to the decrease in ejection forces, the green density of the compacts increases with the decrease of admixed lubricant content until it reaches the maximum at 0.06% of lubricant content, then decreases with the decrease of admixed lubricant content. The mechanical properties of the sintered compacts that contain more than 0.06% admixed lubricant are better than those of the samples that contain lesser lubricant. No scoring was observed in all die wall lubricated experiments.

Die wall lubricated warm compaction behavior of non-lubricant admixed iron powders

The phenomena of die wall lubricated warm compaction of non-lubricant admixed iron powders were researched, and its mechanism of densification was discussed. Water atomized powder obtained from the Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation was used. With compacting and sintering, compared with cold compaction, the density of warm compacted samples increases by 0.070.22 g/cm3 at the same pressed pressure. The maximum achievable green density of warm compacted samples is 7.12 g/cm3 at 120 ℃, and the maximum sintered density is 7.18 g/cm3 at 80 ℃. Compared with cold compaction, the ejection force of warm compaction is smaller; the maximum discrepancy is about 7 kN. The warm compacted mechanism of densification of ironpowders can be obtained: heating the powder contributes to improving plastic defosmation of powder particles, and accelerating the mutual filling and rearrangement of powder particles.

Sinter-hardening properties of partially-diffuse alloyed Fe-Cu-Ni-Mo-C material prepared by die wall lubricated warm compaction

The sinter-hardening properties of a partially-diffuse alloyed Fe-2Cu-2Ni-1Mo-1C material were investigated. Samples were formed by die wall lubricated warm compaction method,then,sintered in hydrogen atmosphere at 1 150 ℃ for 1 h and cooled at 4.6,2.9 and 1.5 ℃/s,respectively,from 900 ℃ down to 600 ℃. Effects of cooling rate on mechanical properties and microstructure of the material were discussed. The results show that when the cooling rate increases,the tensile strength of the material increases,while,the elongation shows opposite result. The sintered material has a tensile strength of 872 MPa and an apparent hardness of HB 257 at a cooling rate of 4.6 ℃/s. Slight shrinkage is observed. Heterogeneous microstructures containing martensite,bainite,pearlite and nickel-rich retained austenite are observed in the material. Higher martensite content can be obtained at higher cooling rate,while,at lower cooling rate,pearlite and retained austenite dominated the microstructure.

Effects of warm compaction on mechanical properties of sintered P/M steels

The green and sintered densities,and tensile strength of sintered P/M steels produced by cold compaction,warm compaction,warm compaction combined with die wall lubrication(DWL)were measured under various compaction pressures using polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)emulsion as the die wall lubricant.The effects of warm compaction on the mechanical properties were studied.The tensile fracture behaviors of cold compaction and warm compaction were studied using scanning electron microscope(SEM).The results show that the density of sintered P/M steel prepared by warm compaction or warm compaction with DWL is higher than that by cold compaction under all compaction pressures.Meanwhile,the highest tensile strength is obtained by combination of warm compaction and die wall lubrication under all compaction pressures.The SEM results show that the fracture modes of the sintered samples prepared by cold compaction and warm compaction at 700 MPa are the mixed mode of ductile fracture and brittle fracture,and obvious dimples can be found in some regions.The fracture of sample prepared by cold compaction is uneven and has irregular and big pores,but that by warm compaction is relatively even and the pores are round mostly,and the samples have many obvious dimples on the whole fracture surface.

Warm compaction powder metallurgy of Cu

A series of experiments were carried out using different admixed lubricant contents, different compaction pressures and temperatures in order to study the warm compaction of copper powder. Results show that too much admixed lubricant will lead to the squeeze out of the lubricant from the compact during the warm compaction processing of Cu powder. Results also show that blisters can be found in sintered samples that contain lubricant less than 0.15%(mass fraction). Optimal warm compaction parameters for producing high density powder metallurgy copper material are obtained. Compacts with green density of 8.6 g/cm^3 and a sintered density of 8.83 g/cm^3 can be produced by warm compacting the Cu powder, which contains 0.2% admixed lubricant, and is compacted at 145 ℃ with a pressure of 700 MPa.

Numerical simulation of warm compacted synchronous pulley

A new mechanical model for warm powder compaction was presented. Warm compaction process of iron-based powder was investigated to deal with the existence of elastic, plastic and thermal strains. A coupled mechanical and thermal model was developed based on ellipsoidal yield criterion and continuum theory. The constitutive equations were integrated into the constitutive integral arithmetic and solved employing incremental iterative solution strategy. The flow stress model of iron powder was nonlinearly fitted according to uniaxial warm compaction. The constitutive model was implemented into user-subroutines of MSC.Marc. With the equations, algorithms and programs developed, the compaction procedures of a complex synchronous pulley were simulated. Two different compaction schemes with different punch displacements were tested and the relative density distribution was obtained. Comparison with experimental data shows that the homogeneity of green compact is greatly affected by the compaction mode. The simulation results agree with the experiments very well.

Warm compacting behavior of stainless steel powders

The warm compacting behaviors of four different kinds of stainless steel powders,304L,316L,410L and 430L,were studied. The results show that warm compaction can be applied to stainless steel powders. The green densities and strengths of compacts obtained through warm compaction are generally higher than those obtai ned through cold compaction. The compacting behaviors in warm compaction and col d compaction are similar. Under the compacting pressure of 700 MPa,the warm co mpacted densities are 0.100.22 g/cm^3 higher than the cold compacted o nes,and the green strengths are 11.5%50% higher. The optimal warm compa cting temperature is 100110 ℃. In the die wall lubricated warm compact ion,the optimum internal lubricant content is 0.2%.

Effects of lubricant's friction coefficient on warm compaction powder metallurgy

The correct use of lubricant is the key of warm compaction powder metallurgy. Different lubricants produce different lubrication effects and their optimal application temperature will be different. Three different lubricants were used to study the effects of friction coefficient on warm compaction process. Friction coefficients of these lubricants were measured at temperatures ranging from ambient temperature to 200 ℃. Iron-base samples were prepared using different processing temperatures and their green compact densities were studied.