Production and Study of Cast-Iron Dispersed Steel Matrix Materials

Author : Santosh S. Hosmani, Rajneesh V. Potdar, Tushar B. Chaudhari

Abstract

In the current work, mild steel nodular cast-iron (20 wt.% and 30 wt.%) powders were mixed together and then compacted by applying 800 MPa and 900 MPa pressure. Sintering was done at 1100 °C and time was varied from 20 to 150 min. Powders and powder-compacts were produced successfully. It was observed that, even before sintering, green compacts were sufficiently strong. The compacts were not crumbled into pieces even after impacting manually against the concrete floor. Microstructures were investigated by using optical microscope. Neither graphite nodules nor pearlite lamellae were observed in the sintered compacts. It was found that increasing sintering time increases hardness. Sintering process increases the compressive strength of the compact to significant extent. On the basis of obtained results, the developed material can be suitable candidate for the ball-bearing applications.

Keywords: Cast-iron, Heat-treatment, Metallurgy, Powder, Steel