Effect of carbon content on microstructure and mechanical properties of sintered Fe-Mo-Mn-C alloys

Abstract

Abstract Sintered Fe-Mo-Mn-C alloys were produced by sintering of mixtures of pre-alloyed Fe-0.5Mo-0.15Mn powder and varied carbon amounts (0.30-1.20 wt.% with 0.15% increments) followed by slow cooling in furnace. Microstructures and mechanical properties of the sintered alloys varied with added carbon content. With up to 0.75 wt.% carbon additions, the sintered alloys exhibited polygonal ferrite plus non-cooperative eutectoid decomposition products. With 0.90 wt.% carbon addition, the whole microstructure of the sintered alloy mainly consisted of non-cooperative eutectoid decomposition products. With 1.05 and 1.20 wt.% carbon additions, the microstructures of the sintered alloys consisted of large grain boundary carbides and mixed non-cooperative and cooperative eutectoid decomposition products within grains. Tensile strength showed the maximum value in the sintered alloy with 1.05 wt.% carbon addition. Elongation values decreased sharply with increasing carbon contents of up to 0.60 wt.%, beyond which the values were constant.