Abstract
In the conventional way for increasing ductility of iron-copper compacts, emphasis has been layed on obtaining their homogeneous structures by sintering above the melting point of copper. Also in our experiments which were carried out according to the above method, both the tensile strength and the elongation of sintered iron-copper compacts increased with compacting and repressing pressures. But it was observed that the elongation decreased with rising sintering temperature and extending sintering time, while the tensile strength increased.
The authors assumed that both the elongation and the strength might increase by means of two-stage sintering, thus effectuating tight bonding of iron particles in the primary sintering under the melting point of copper and subsequent partial diffusion of copper into the iron skeleton above the melting point of copper. And it has been proved experimentally that the elongation of sintered iron-copper compacts was improved by this process without significant decrease in the tensile strength. The results were confirmed with the aid of photomicrography and electron microanalyser analysis.
