Powder Metallurgy

UNIT 6 : Applications

Sarika Aglave,
Lecturer,
Metallurgical Engineering Department,
Government Polytechnic Pune
 CONTENTS
• 6.1 Bearing Materials – Applications, properties, methods of
production, oil impregnated bearings.
• 6.2 Friction Materials - Applications, properties, methods of
production, formulation.
• 6.3 Tool Materials - Applications, properties, production of
cemented carbide.
• 6.4 Ferrites – Applications, production.
 BEARING MATERIALS

• An extensive use of powder metallurgy techniques occurs in

the field of bearing materials which contain a pore volume of
between 17% and 30%.
• Practically every automobile, refrigerator, air conditioner and
washing machine etc., that is produced nowadays, contains
sintered bearings.
 BEARING MATERIALS

• List of Bearing Materials : - There are number of bearing

materials.
• Examples:
➢ 60%Cu + 40%Pb
➢ 70%Cu + 30%Pb
➢ 74%Cu + 22%Pb + 4%Sn
➢ 80%Cu + 10%Pb + 10%Sn
OIL IMPREGNATED POROUS BEARINGS
• This is most important bearing. These materials should have the
capacity of working under self-lubricating regime with the lubricant
present in the pores of the bearing which may be operated under
conditions of dry friction.
• Porous bearings must contain the following characteristics:
➢ Sufficient porosity content to contain and retain in use the maximum
possible amount of oil.
➢ Major proportion of porosity must be distributed throughout the
material in the form of myriads of interconnecting channels and
reservoirs.
➢ The bearing must have minimum strength values to sustain stresses
during its working life.
➢ It must be manufactured finished to close limits of dimensional
accuracy.
• The main advantages of these bearings are capacity of working
without lubricant, and their resistance to corrosion. Another
advantage is that the problems of machining are simplified. They
may find applications in positions which are very difficult accessible
and frequent maintenance is not required.
 Methods of Production
• Porous bearings are usually made of bronze, with or without the addition
of graphite or other dry lubricant.
• The basic steps in the production of a porous bearing include :
• Mixing – For porous bronze bearings, metal powders such as Cu and Sn
with a small percentage of fine natural graphite are blended or mixed to
render the desired alloy composition.
• Cold die-compaction – The mixed powders are then compacted in
hydraulic or mechanical presses at pressures between 10 and 35 tons/in2
to form green compact of desired shape.
• Sintering – Sintering is carried out in a reducing atmosphere at a
temperature of about 800°C. A typical sintering cycle consists in holding
the compact at 400-450°C for the removal of lubricant and diffusion of
molten Sn into the copper, followed by further heating to 800°C for
periods as short as 5 minutes. At this higher temperature, formation of
tin-rich liquid phase takes place again which will be absorbed by the
copper.
• Repressing – The sintered products are then repressed i.e. sized or coined
to a fixed length to remove distortion, to impart densities, required degree
of dimensional accuracy, and a smooth surface finish.
• Impregnation – The repressed components are then finally impregnated
with oil. In practice, impregnation with oil is achieved either by the use of
pressure, hot oil or vacuum or a combination of these.
 PROPERTIES OF OIL IMPREGNATED
BEARINGS
• The concept of oil circulation around the shaft, because of the
rotation of a shaft or solid journal within an oil-impregnated
bearing in order to reduce the frictional loss on the contact
region is not adequate. Consideration must be given to the
effects of higher temperature. When the oil is kept at a proper
temperature or within a restricted temperature range, its
performance will be optimum.
• The fact of oil circulation within the oil impregnated
bearings has been demonstrated by Morgan and Cameron.
Fig. 71 shows the oil distribution within a porous bearing
which was obtained as a result of experiment done by them.
 SINTERED FRICTION MATERIALS

• Properties of Sintered Friction Materials : -

➢ Longer life,
➢ Very little wear,
➢ Constant friction with increasing temperature,
➢ Constant friction with time,
➢ Formability,
➢ High energy absorption capacity,
➢ Adequate mechanical strength,
➢ Corrosion stability and resistance to contaminants,
➢ Relatively high thermal conductivity,
➢ Freedom from noise.
 SINTERED FRICTION MATERIALS
• Applications of Sintered Friction Materials : - There are
number of applications of it.
• Examples :
➢ Driving discs of aircraft engine,
➢ Aircraft brake disc,
➢ Disc brake of earth moving vehicles,
➢ Main drive clutches of earth moving vehicles.

• Note : - The low strength of sintered friction materials makes

it difficult to be used for transmitting the drive directly. That is
why, all sintered friction materials are provided with a
reinforcing member, usually of electroplated steel, better
termed as backing (or supporting) member or core depending
on whether sintered friction material is applied to one side or
both sides of it.
 Manufacturing Methods
• Powder Mixing – Formulation of friction materials usually contain 3-10
metallic and nonmetallic ingredients. The individual ingredients are
carefully weighed out, added to blender and blending operation is done
for a suitable time to obtain uniform mix.
• Powder Compacting – The compaction of frictional materials is usually
done under hydraulic pressure of capacities ranging between 100 -3000
tons. The powder mix is transported into the die cavity by means of a
hopper and dispenser arrangement and ejection of the compact occurs by
die and core-rod strip-down under load.
• Sintering – Backing/compact or core/compact materials are first of all
positioned into exact location by putting a thin layer of volatile glue
between the compact and the core. The assemblies are then coated with a
suitable separating medium which are finally placed on the furnace hearth
in a vertical stack. Sintering is done for desired period under protective
atmosphere at about 800 °C for Cu-based and 1000 °C iron-based friction
materials. The heating cycle usually takes between 4-6 hours which
depends upon the workload, the final temperature and rate of heating
required for optimum sintering.
The components after being cooled sufficiently, are then unloaded
from the furnace hearth, inspected and finally moved forward for
subsequent operation.
• Machining – Most sintered friction materials require a
machining operation to obtain a desired degree of facing
parallelism or tight tolerances. Additional operations such as
grooving, slotting or drilling may be carried out as per
requirement. In general, the friction parts are then surface
ground.
Final cleaning process such as gear-tooth or grit blasting,
is often carried out in order to remove loose materials, if any,
and enhance appearance.
• Miscellaneous operations (Heat treatment, press forming,
etc.) – Sometimes additional heat treatment processes are
carried out to increase the strength and wear resistance of
local highly stressed regions on the steel backing plate.
 Friction Material Formulation
• Usually the constituents comprising the sintered friction materials are
matrix materials, binders, lubricants, a friction agent, wear resistant
materials and a filler. “Pores” should be considered as a distinct phase,
since their type, volume and distribution can considerably affect the
behavior of friction material particularly when operating in oil.
• Matrix Powders – The most widely used powders for the matrix are
copper and iron. The matrix materials constitute about 50-80 wt% of a
mixture.
• Friction modifiers or agents – Friction agents can vary up to 28 wt% of
mixture. The more common friction agents are silica, alumina, mullite,
silicon nitride, silicon carbide, bentonite, asbestos, feldspar, etc.
• Lubricants – Lubricants range from 5-25 wt% of the friction material.
Mostly used lubricants are Pb, litharge, graphite and MoS2.
• Wear Resistors – It can constitute up to 10 wt.% of the friction mix. The
most common wear resistor is cementite in the form of cast iron shot or
grit.
• Fillers – Fillers vary between 0-15 wt.% of a mixture and are primarily
employed from the view point of economy.
 TOOL MATERIALS

• Defination : Tool material is defined as one which enables us

to shape a larger metallic object by removing a part or thin
layer of the metal from its surface to the required shape.
• Properties of Tool Materials : -
➢ High hardness,
➢ High compressive strength,
➢ High abrasion resistance,
➢ High hot hardness,
➢ Good toughness,
➢ High thermal conductivity,
➢ High corrosion resistance.
• Applications of Tool Materials : - There are number of
applications of it.
• Examples :
➢ Rock and coal drilling equipments,
➢ Dies for wire drawing,
➢ Tool of drilling machine,
➢ Tools of milling machine.
• Production of Cemented Carbide : -
• The carbides are produced by the carburization of
powdered metals or metal oxides by means of solid carbon
and are mixed either individually or in the form of solid
solution with cobalt powder. Mixing of powders is
conducted in wet ball mills, until homogeneous, finely
dispersed, carbide-cobalt sludge is obtained, which is
filtered, dried, re-reduced and pressed into compacts as
tips, rods, bars or plates. Parts with complex design are
made by the double-sintering techniques i.e. presintering
of the compacts and shaping by cutting or grinding in the
presintered condition followed by final sintering in the
furnace having hydrogen atmosphere.
• Fig. 76. is a flow sheet indicating sequence of
operations in the production of sintered cemented carbide
parts.
 MAGNETIC MATERIALS (FERRITES)

• Applicatons :-
➢ Transformer,
➢ Inductor cores,
➢ Deflection yokes for television tube,
➢ Magnetic antenna in broadcast radio receivers.
• Manufacture of Ferrites :-
• Fig. 89 shows a typical flow diagram for polycrystalline ferrite
preparation. The raw materials are ground to fine powders,
thoroughly mixed in the correct proportion and presintered at
a suitable temperature. The presintered product is milled to
the required fineness of powder and the component is
formed normally by compaction or extrusion. A final sintering
at temperatures upto 1450°C produces the desired magnetic
mechanical properties after which the component may be
subjected to a number of finishing operations.
Thank You