EFFECT OF PROCESSING PARAMETERS ON THE ELASTIC DEFLECTION OF P M NI-FE36NI BIMETAL STRIPS DURING HEATING/

Electrolytic nickel powder and cater-atomized Fe36Ni alloy powder were consolidated into combined compacts with the ''two-layer pressing'' t echnique, The compacts, 1.6 mm thick, were sintered at 1200 and 1300 d egrees C in hydrogen, and then rolled into strips 0.8 mm thick. The ro lled and annealed strips were fixed at one end as a cantilever beam, a nd heated gradually from room temperature to 200 degrees C, in order t o measure the thermal deflection of the free end, The measured displac ement was always less than the theoretically calculated value, due to the existence of pores in the sintered products. The effect of the tem perature and time of sintering on the thermal deflection of the bimeta l strips was investigated. It was found that the proper degree of sint ering is essential for the bimetal strip to exhibit the largest displa cement upon heating. The microstructure and chemical composition acros s the nickel layer, the contact interface, and the Fe36Ni layer were e xamined with a SEM and EPMA.