Abstract
The Fe-Al intermetallic compounds have a high hardness and superior resistance against a wear, a heat and an oxidation. Therefore it is expected that the compounds will be used as a tool material and a high temperature structural material for a chemical plant, a turbine, a catalyst and so on. Although the intermetallic compounds are typically formed by near-net shape methods such as sintering or casting because of their poor ductility and plastic deformability, machining is required as a finishing method to form a highly accurate product. Some studies on the machinability of the intermetallic compounds have been reported so far, which reports about the cutting such as the lathe turning mainly. Additionally, there are few reports about machinability of the single phase. The main purpose of this study is to clarify the fundamental slicing characteristic of the single phase body of the Fe-Al intermetallic compounds. The main results obtained are as follows. The machinability of the Fe-Al intermetallic compounds is inferior comparing with the hard and brittle materials such as Pyrex or polycrystalline silicon, and then the multi-wire saw is available for the high precision slicing.
