The Promotion of Liquid Phase Sintering of Boron-Containing Powder Metallurgy Steels by Adding Nickel

Abstract

Boron is a feasible alloying element for liquid phase sintering (LPS) of powder metallurgy (PM) steels. This study investigated the effect of nickel (Ni), which is widely used in PM steels, on the liquid phase sintering of boron-containing PM steels. The results showed that the addition of 1.8wt% Ni does not apparently modify the LPS mechanism of boron-containing PM steels. However, adding 1.8wt% Ni slightly improves the LPS densification from 0.60 g/cm3 to 0.65 g/cm3, though the green density is reduced. Thermodynamic simulation demonstrated that the presence of Ni lowers the temperature region of liquid formation, resulting in enhanced LPS densification. Moreover, original graphite powders remains in the steels sintered at 1200 ºC. These graphite powders mostly dissolve into the base iron powder when the sintering temperature is increased from 1200 ºC to 1250 ºC.