Abstract
The main objective of the present work is to evaluate the effects of Zr addition on various properties of SUS316L stainless steel powders produced by water-atomization of liquid metals. The results are summarized as follows;
1) The sintering density of SUS316L stainless steel powders pre-alloyed with 0.05 mass% of Zr was about 2 percent higher than that of the powder containing no Zr. However, in the powder pre-mixed with 0.05 mass% of Zr, no effect of Zr addition was observed.
2) Mechanical properties were improved by pre-alloying with Zr, but impaired by pre-alloying with Zr.
3) In pre-alloyed powder with 0.05 mass% of Zr, the increase of sintering density to start from 1073 K was observed. The micro-structural observation showed that the neck formation between particles started at 1073 K. The temperature is lower by about 100 K compared with the powder containing no Zr.
