Manufacturing of intermetallic alloys by conventional powder metallurgy technology and termochemical treatment

Variety of P/M alloys, which are characterized by optimized mechanical prop erties, find increasing applications on large scale in various industries. The type of application basically depends on the material compatibility vis -a vis application, which in turn, is based on the chemical natural and the P/M manufacturing route. Often, the P/M alloys are subjected to termochemi cal treatment in order to increase their surface hardness and wear-resistan ce. In the present experiments P/M intermetallic alloys of the type FeAl an d FeAlNi have been prepared by conventional powder metallurgy via compactin g and sintering. The surface hardness was improved by nitriding. The mappin g of the microhardness profiles and structural examination of nitrided P/M alloys have been performed. The influence of the technology parameters on t he development of nitrided layers of P/M alloys is discussed.