Abstract
Hard metal, which uses Fe3Al intermetallic compound binder, is a new wear resistant material with high oxidation resistance. As the particle sizes of Fe3Al powder synthesized by mechanical alloying process of elementary Fe powder and Al powder were about 30μm, the dispersibility of WC particles was so poor that the mechanical properties of the sintered compact degraded.
WC-20mass%Fe3Al alloy powder was prepared by mechanical alloying for 72ks using Fe powder, Al powder and WC powder as starting materials. The synthesized MA powder was filled up in a graphite mold and sintered at 1423 K by a pulsed current sintering.
The prepared sintered compact consisted of WC and Fe3Al phases. This showed that Fe3Al was synthesized from Fe and Al with a self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) during sintering. The compact showed transverse rupture strength of over 1.3 GPa on account of homogeneous dispersion of Fe3Al. However, it is necessary to decrease the micropores in order to make a dense compact for industrial application.
