Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of powder characteristics on the mechanical properties, especially fatigue and impact strengths, of the austenitic stainless steel compacts made by powder injection molding. The specimens were made of water-atomized (WA) and gas-atomized powders which were blended with a polyamide binder system. The compacts were debound in air and then sintered in vacuum at various temperatures for various times. The powder characteristics influenced significantly on the density, microstructure and mechanical properties of the sintered compacts. The fatigue limits of the WA and GA powder compacts were approximately 300MPa and 310 MPa, respectively. The fatigue strength of these compacts was slightly lower than that of the wrought material. The impact value of the sintered compacts increased lineally with increasing density.
