FABRICATION OF RETICULATED IRON USING PIG -IRON POWDER

The fabrication process and the properties of the developed reticulate d iron are as follows. 1) It is possible to make reticulated iron by s intering pig iron powder (chemical composition, 3 approximately 4 wt%O , 3 approximately 9 wt%O, <0.1 wt% Si, <0.3 wt%Mn, <0.04 wt%P, <0.04 w t%S, mean particle size 10 mum) coated on urethane-foam with several b inders under a non-oxidizing atmosphere.2) Most surface iron oxides in the powder are rapidly reduced by the carbon in the powder at a tempe rature between 600-degrees-C and 800-degrees-C. The sintering reaction proceeds relatively fast from 700-degrees-C because metallic iron red uced from iron oxides is active. If the O/C ratio of the powder compos ition is less than 1.2, it is impossible to make stable product becaus e of partial melting due to eutectic reaction during sintering. The pr oduct properties mainly depend on the powder compositions, sintering c onditions and urethane foam's porosity. Representative properties of t he product are as follows ; bulk density (0.6 approximately 1.4 g/cm3) , bending strength (1.3 approximately 9 MPa), pressure drop (80 approx imately 170 Pa at a ventilation rate of 2.5 m/s) porosity rate (80 app roximately 95 %) and specific surface area (0.1 approximately 1.0 m2/g ).