PRODUCTION OF SINTER-FORGED COMPONENTS

The forging of sintered metal-powder preforms is currently arousing in terest in many parts of the world as an economic method of producing c omponents from metal powders. This paper reports on an investigation i nto the various technological aspects of the cold forging of sintered powder preforms. The influence of the powder particle size, the compac ting pressure, the sintering temperature and other forging parameters on the relative density of the preform has been investigated. Experime nts were conducted which involved the forging of hollow discs of atomi sed iron powder at room temperature under axisymmetric conditions. Mea surements were made on the development of barrelling and strain variat ions at the free surface. Crack formation at the free surface was obse rved. The deformation characteristics and fracture mechanisms are disc ussed critically, to illustrate the interaction of the various paramet ers involved, and the results are presented graphically. Powder prefor m design and techno-economic advantages are discussed briefly also.