Powder Metallurgy

Metals and alloys can be fabricated into any desired shape by hot working process, during which
the metal remains in the liquid state or in the solid state. A new technique called powder
metallurgy (PMA) has been developed for fabricating metallic objects from metal powder.

Definition: ([Link]

Powder metallurgy (P/M) is the art and science of manufacturing fine metal powders. (i.e, raw
materials) consolidating them and fabricating into desired shape of the articles with little or no
melting.

Historical Development in Power Metallurgy:

POWDER METALLURGY has been called a lost art. Unlike clay and other ceramic materials,
the art of molding and firing practical or decorative metallic objects was only occasionally
applied during the early stages of recorded history. Sintering of metals was entirely forgotten
during the succeeding centuries, only to be revived in Europe at the end of the 18th century,
when various methods of platinum powder production were recorded (Table 1).

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Advantages of Powder Metallurgy

1. Rate of production is high

2. Highly complicated articles can be manufactured.
3. It is highly cleaner and quieter operations and longer life.
4. Mechanical operations are not required because the object possess very good dimensional
accuracy and good surface finishing.
5. Life of the component parts is longer.
6. Metals as well as non-metals can be mixed in any proportion.
7. The products produced are relatively more uniform and free from defects such as void,
blow holes, etc.
8. No material is wasted.
9. Parts with wide variations in compositions and materials can be produced.
10. Skilled labour is not required.
11. Antifriction alloy strips can be made by powder metallurgy technique.
12. Porous parts can also be made.
13. Impossible parts like super hard cutting tools can also be produced.
14. Porous products can be manufactured. Lubricants can be impregnated into porous bearing
and bushing under pressure to obtain components which are self-lubricating for life.
15. Excellent reproducibility and improved physical properties.

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[Link]

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Preparation of Metal (or) Alloy Powders
The particle size of the metal powder should be in the range of 10 to 100 microns. The degree of
purity, particle size and shape of the metal powders largely depend on the method of
manufacture. The metal or alloy powders are prepared by the following methods.

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Chemical composition

The chemical composition of powders is the outstanding characteristic. It usually reveals

the type and percentage of impurity and determines the particle hardness and compressibility.
The term impurity refers to some elements or compounds which has an undesirable effect.
Impurities influence not only the mechanical properties of the powder compacts, but also their
chemical, electrical and magnetic properties. It may also exert a decisive effect on pressing,
sintering, and other postsintering operation which are essential for the production of finished
product from powders.

Insoluble oxides such as alumina, silica in appreciable amounts give rise to serious
troubles such as abrasion of die and poor mechanical properties due to non-uniform sintering.
The gaseous impurities may improve the sintering under some circumstances while in others it
shows harmful effects. These impurities also affect the density of the green compact because of
increasing the side wall friction.

The chemical composition of a powder is determined by the well-established standard

techniques of chemical analysis. Oxygen content is determined either by wet analysis or by "loss

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of weight in hydrogen". Some oxides may not be reduced at all or there may be error due to
incomplete reduction of oxides. Therefore, it is desirable for both processing and optimum
properties of the final product to have low oxygen content.

The effective way to reduce the oxygen content is the annealing of powders by which the
hydrogen loss value becomes almost halved. It is not possible to reduce certain oxides such as
silica (and silicates), alumina, titania, chromium trioxides, etc. by hydrogen under the conditions
of such a test and therefore these must be determined by other methods. Oxides such as silica
(and silicates) are insoluble in mineral acids and hence may be determined by dissolving the
metal, and filtering, washing, igniting and weighing of the residue.

Particle size

The particle size has a great importance in P/M because it affects most of the properties such as
 mould strength,
 density of compact,
 porosity,
 expulsion of trapped (occluded) gases,
 dimensional stability,
 agglomerations
 Flow and mixing characteristics.
Particle size is expressed by the diameter for spherical shaped particles and by the average
diameter for non- spherical particles.
Average diameter is defined in different ways according to the method employed for size
distribution.
 When the method involves sizing, the particle size is measured as the opening of a standard
screen which just retains or passes the particle.
 When determined by micro count method, the diameter is measured by averaging several
dimensions.
 According to the sedimentation method the particle size is defined as the diameter of the
spherical particle having the same specific gravity and settling velocity as the non-spherical
particle under test.
 The average diameter in the case of large particle size can be determined by counting and
weighing as the cube root of the volume.
In practical P/M metal powders are divided into three distinct classes:
1. Sieve
2. Sub-sieve
3. Sub-micron (or ultrafine)
The screen with the opening of finest standard mesh-sieve for production purposes is the
325 mesh screen having the aperture of 44 micron. Sub-sieve particles are smaller than the
aperture of such a screen but greater than 1µ. This class of powder is used for the production of
refractory metals, hard carbides and magnetic cores. As the name suggests, the submicron

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powder particle size is smaller than 1µ and is used for the manufacture of dispersion
strengthened high temperature alloy, bearing and micro porous components, magnetic materials,
nuclear reactor fuels. Sieve size powders are used for most ordinary mass production because of
their good flow ability and lack of further processing requirement such as granulation.
Majority of metal powders employed in powder metallurgy industry vary in size from 4
to 200 microns. Powders of sub-micron size have been developed and used for the production of
many powder metallurgical parts particularly dispersion strengthened materials, etc. Metal
powder particle sizes in the range of 0.01 to 1 micron are employed for the production of these
alloys but their (powders) use poses many problems. For example, apparent density is very low,
flow rate is poor, inter particle friction is high, they agglomerate readily, they tend to be
pyrophoric, they oxidize quickly with the atmosphere and difficulty reduce without bonding
together and they alter their characteristics during their storage.
The advantages include:

 Very fine grain sizes possible in the dispersed phase and the good dispersion itself
 Fine powders sinter easily at lower temperatures and in shorter times than are required by the
coarse powders.
 Sintering is invariably accompanied by very high shrinkages which cause the dimensional
control of parts more difficult.

Particle Shape
There are various shapes of metal powders such as:
1. Spherical (carbonyl iron, condensed zinc, lead, atomization, precipitation from aqueous
solution by gases)
2. Rounded or droplets ( atomized copper, zinc, aluminum, tin, chemical decomposition)
3. Angular (mechanically disintegrated Sb, cast iron, stainless steel obtained by intergranular
corrosion)
4. Acicular (chemical decomposition)
5. Dendritic ( electrolytic silver, copper, iron powders)
6. Flakes (ball milled copper, aluminum, and stamped metals)
7. Porous (reduction of oxides)
8. Irregular (atomization, reduction, chemical decomposition)
9. Fragmented

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Particle shape has a pronounced effect on the packing of a powder and has an influence on its
compacting and sintering properties and the mechanical strength of the sintered product thus;
irregularly shaped particles have reduced apparent density and flow rate, good pressing and
sintering properties, while spherical particles have maximum apparent density and flow rate but
reduced pressing properties and good sintering characteristics. In the same way, dendritic
powders result in reduced apparent density and poor flow rate.

Optical or electron microscopic examination is the usual and direct method of evaluating the
particle shape. It is customary to express it also by shape factor which is the ratio of the length of
particle to its breadth or surface area to particle size. Presence of cracks or grain boundaries in
the individual particles increases considerably the shape factor.

Apparent Density

The apparent density of a powder is defined as the mass per unit volume of loose or
unpacked powder. Thus it includes internal pores but excludes external pores. It is governed by
chemical composition, particle shape, size, size distribution, method of manufacture of metal
powders as well as shape and surface conditions which can vary from 20-50% of the theoretical
density.
The main factor is not the particle size but the particle size distribution for altering the
apparent density. Thus the uniform and identical particles occupy a constant fraction of the
available space but various sized particles increase the density to an optimum extent. An increase

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in apparent density is obtained with additions of fine particles and results from the ability of fines
to fill the inter particle voids. Because of their more brittle behavior, oxides present on the
surface result in the lowering of strength and altering the apparent density of the metal powder.

Tap Density

Tap density (or load factor) is the apparent density of the powder after it has been mechanically
shaken down or tapped until the level of the powder no longer falls. It appears to be widely used
for storage, packing or transport of commercial powders and also a control test on mixed
powder.

Flow Rate

The flow rate is a very important characteristic of powders which measures the ability of
a powder to be transferred. It is defined as the rate at which a metal powder will flow under
gravity from a container through an orifice both having the specific shape and finish. The powder
filling of die must be rapid and uniform without bridge formation for obtaining a rapid rate of
production, consistent compacts and economy. On the other hand poor flow properties of the
powder result in the slow and uneconomical feeding of the die cavity and the possibility during
pressing of uneven filling of the die cavity. It is affected only by particle size, size distribution
and shape, but also by absorbed air or gas, moisture, lubricant, coefficient of inter particle
friction, etc. in general, fine or dendritic, irregular, coarse and spherical powders have poor,
reduced, good and maximum flow rates respectively. Flow rate increases with decreased particle
irregularly and increased particle size, specific gravity, and apparent density. It can also be
increased by tapping or vibrating.

The standard apparatus, known as Hall Flowmeter, is generally used for the
determination of flow rate. It consists of a standard and accurately machined conical funnel made
of brass with smooth finish having an internal angle of 60º. The orifice situated at the bottom of
the funnel is either 1/8" for ferrous powders or 1/10" in diameter for non-ferrous powders. The
time required to flow the weighed sample of powder (usually 50 gm) from the funnel into a cup
held at a fixed distance below the orifice is a measure of flow rate, which is expressed in seconds
or gm/minute in case a non- standard weight of the sample is employed.

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Properties of Green Strength Compact

Green Strength
The strength of the green compacts is primarily dependent on the consolidation pressure and a
rise mainly from cold welding and mechanical interlocking neighboring particles and particle
shearing. Particle shape and structure have a great effect upon green strength. Thus, it can be
improved by using soft irregular shaped particles with clean surfaces.
Green Spring
Another property of the green compact, associated with the difference between the size of the
compact and the tools employed to prepare it, is usually termed green "spring" because the
compacts expand both radially and longitudinally on ejection from the tools. During compacting,
plastic deformation of the powder particles causes work hardening and an increase in the elastic
limit.
As the compact leaves the die, there is elastic recovery of the residual stresses and when it
exceeds the green strength of the compact, cracking will occur on ejection. For the manufacture
of parts with close dimensional tolerance, it is necessary to determine the extent of green spring.
In general, the green spring upon ejection amounts to 0.2% on the diameter and 0.5% on the
length. It depends on the powder material, compacting pressure, elastic recovery of the tools and
design of the dies.

Properties of the Sintered Compact

1. Dimensional change during sintering
Dimensional change is always occurring when a green compact is given a sintering operation. It
is of special importance in the carbide industry where this change is of the order of 25%. It is
determined by taking the measurement of dimensions of a standard specimen before and after
sintering under standard conditions. It is customary to express the shrinkage (or growth) as a
percentage of sintered length (particularly in the carbide industry).

A rectangular specimen or hollow cylindrical specimen is used for performing a test on

dimensional directions as this change may differ considerably in the two directions.

2. Sintered Density.
The methods used for determination of sintered density are similar to those which have already
been described for the determination of green density. The property facilitates rendering of
information on porosity of the finished product. The mechanical properties, in general, increase
with the decrease in porosity of the sintered compact.

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 3. Porosity
The presence of porosity has a much greater influence on the elongation, and impact and fatigue
strength and a rapid increase in these values is obtained with the density approaching the
theoretical. Porosity acts as a stress raiser and sintered component does not indicate truly elastic
behavior, rather it appears to function in a similar manner as graphite in cast iron. It is interesting
to note here that the fatigue ratio of sintered alloys and of cast iron is about 0.4, as compared to
the values of 0.5, for wrought steel. It is very difficult to produce P/M parts without any porosity
remaining after sintering. The total porosity present in the sintered part may be calculated from
the following relationship.

Where P is the fractional porosity, Pv the density of the sintered and Ps the density of the solid
materials.

4. Mechanical Properties of Sintered Parts

It is customary to obtain the required mechanical properties of the finished part by using either
one or a combination of the following processes:
a. Double pressing and sintering
b. Coining
c. Infiltration
d. Alloying
e. Heat treatment.
The radial crushing strength test is widely used particularly in the sintered bearing industry. In
this test the specimen is compressed between two flat surfaces in the direction normal to the
longitudinal axis of the specimen. The point at which drop in loading observed because of the
first crack determines the crushing which can be expressed by means of the following formula:

Where W is the redial crushing strength (Ibs), K the strength constant (Ibs/in2 ), L, T and D the
length, wall thickness and outside diameter of the cylinder respectively, all expressed in inches.
The value of K varies between about 17500 and 40000 Ibs/in2 depending upon the density and
composition of the porous part.

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 State the advantages of powder metallurgy
 State the limitation of power metallurgy
 What is solid phase sintering process? State the operation or mechanisms involved in the solid
phase sintering.
 Write a short notes on liquid phase sintering process.
 Define compacting and classify them based on pressure and non-pressure process.
 How dyeing and forging processes were utilized in powder metallurgy? Explain with neat
diagram.
 Write a short notes on power extrusion process with neat sketch.
 Elucidate various pressure-less shaping technique with neat sketch.

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