MgO-containing flux may have a series of effects on the quality of sinter and performances of the blast furnace.Thus,the fundamental mechanism of the effects of MgO on the sinter strength was investigated.Both the che...MgO-containing flux may have a series of effects on the quality of sinter and performances of the blast furnace.Thus,the fundamental mechanism of the effects of MgO on the sinter strength was investigated.Both the chemical reagent and industrial flux were used for preparing the specimens.The experimental results show that the sinter strength decreases with MgO addition.There are three reasons for it.The first reason is diffusion rate.Almost all of the CaO may react with Fe2O3 and generate CaO Fe2O3,but most of MgO cannot react with Fe2O3,and it still remains in the state of original minerals.The diffusion rate of MgO in iron oxide is only 17.51μm/min in 30 min.The second reason is the fluidity and ability to generate liquid phase.In the case of Fe2O3 mixed with CaO,there is some liquid phase formed above 1200℃,while in the case of Fe2O3 mixed with MgO,even at 1200 and 1220℃,there is still no liquid phase.The third reason is self-strength.In the case of industrial flux,the compression strength of the specimens made of Fe2O3 and limestone is 0.52 and 0.71 kN at 1150 and 1180℃,respectively,while that of the specimens made of Fe2O3 and magnesite is 0.48 and 0.56 kN,respectively.Therefore,the fundamental mechanism of the effects of MgO additive on sinter strength can be better understood based on the diffusion rate of MgO in iron oxides,the fluidity of liquid phase,and the self-strength of bonding phase.展开更多
Some properties of the Fe-based P/M composites sintered and reinforced by infiltration with Cu-Sn alloy were described.It is shown that the hardness of the sintered material is 2.5 times lower,tensile strength is 1.7 ...Some properties of the Fe-based P/M composites sintered and reinforced by infiltration with Cu-Sn alloy were described.It is shown that the hardness of the sintered material is 2.5 times lower,tensile strength is 1.7 times lower and the wear resistance is 2.5-3.3 times lower in comparison with those of the infiltrated material.The presence of pores on the friction surface of the sintered material affects the features of the wear process.Due to the specific morphology of copper in the infiltrated material,the phenomenon of selective mass transfer is observed and worn surfaces have a spongy-capillary texture.展开更多
Sinter body strength, which reflects the strength of sinter, plays an important role in the improvement of sinter. In this study, the sinter body strengths of iron ores were measured using a microsintering method. The...Sinter body strength, which reflects the strength of sinter, plays an important role in the improvement of sinter. In this study, the sinter body strengths of iron ores were measured using a microsintering method. The relationship between the chemical composition and sinter body strength was discussed. Moreover, sinter-pot tests were performed. The effects of sinter body strength on the sintering indexes were then elucidated, and the bottom limit of sinter body strength of blending ores was confirmed. In the results, the compressive strengths（CSs） of iron ores are observed to decrease with the increasing of the contents of loss on ignition（LOI）, SiO 2, and Al2O3; however, LOI of less than 3wt% does not substantially influence the CSs of fine ores. In the case of similar mineral composition, the porosity, in particular, the ratio between the number of large pores and the total number of pores, strongly influences the sinter body strength. With an increase of the blending-ore CSs used in sinter-pot tests, the yield, productivity, and tumbler strength increase, and the solid fuel consumption decreases. The CSs of the blending ores only slightly affect the sintering time. The CS bottom limit of the blending ores is 310 N. When the CSs of the blending ores increase by 10%, the yield, productivity, and tumbler index increase by 1.9%, 2.8%, and 2.0%, respectively, and the solid fuel consumption decreases by 1.9%.展开更多
In the present work,a study is made to investigate the effects of process parameters,namely,laser power,scanning speed,hatch spacing, layer thickness and powder temperature, on the tensile strength for selective laser...In the present work,a study is made to investigate the effects of process parameters,namely,laser power,scanning speed,hatch spacing, layer thickness and powder temperature, on the tensile strength for selective laser sintering( SLS) of polystyrene( PS). Artificial neural network( ANN) methodology is employed to develop mathematical relationships between the process parameters and the output variable of the sintering strength. Experimental data are used to train and test the network. The present neural network model is applied to predicting the experimental outcome as a function of input parameters within a specified range. Predicted sintering strength using the trained back propagation( BP) network model showed quite a good agreement with measured ones. The results showed that the networks had high processing speed,the abilities of error-correcting and self-organizing. ANN models had favorable performance and proved to be an applicable tool for predicting sintering strength SLS of PS.展开更多
Effects of sintering temperature in hot pressing, t yp es, states and amounts of rare earth as well as TiH 2 on the transverse rupture strength (TRS) of Fe-based composites are studied by means of orthogonal test and ...Effects of sintering temperature in hot pressing, t yp es, states and amounts of rare earth as well as TiH 2 on the transverse rupture strength (TRS) of Fe-based composites are studied by means of orthogonal test and variance analysis in this paper. It is found that sintering temperature has a significant effect on the TRS of Fe-based diamond composites. The optimal sin tering temperature is 780～860 ℃. On the contrary, the effects of RE additi v es on values of TRS of the diamond composites have on distinct difference no mat ter the RE is in the state of mixture or compound or oxidization. Experimental r esults demonstrate that Fe-based diamond composites with RE additives exhibit h igher TRS, which results in an increase in diamond retention capacity. The degre e of increment of TRS is different at different sintering temperatures. The opti mal amount of rare earth was found to be about 1% in weight. The effect of RE is more significant at lower sintering temperature. The experimental results also reveal that TiH 2 additive has a negative effect on the TRS of Fe-based compos ites. Microscope observations demonstrate that specimen without TiH 2 additives , shows fewer pores and denser structures in the base metal. It can also be seen from the SEM observation of the resulting fracturing surface of bending test sp ecimens that the bonding of the diamond-matrix interface is better in the speci men without TiH 2 than in the specimen with TiH 2. Also the fracture surface o f the specimen without TiH 2 reveals ductile cup and cone behavior.展开更多
To develop a smelting process for the comprehensive utilization of high-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite(HCVTM),the micro-sinter test was applied to investigate the influence of basicity and temperature on the HCV...To develop a smelting process for the comprehensive utilization of high-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite(HCVTM),the micro-sinter test was applied to investigate the influence of basicity and temperature on the HCVTM sinters.The bonding phase strength(BS) was tested via an electronic universal testing machine.The phase transformations of the HCVTM sinters were detected via X-ray diffraction(XRD),whereas the structure and mineralogy of the HCVTM sinters under different temperatures and basicities were detected via scanning electron microscopy in combination with energy-dispersive spectroscopy(SEM–EDS).Our results demonstrate that the BS of the HCVTM sinters exhibits a slightly increasing tendency with an increase in temperature when the basicity is 2.4 and within the range of 2.8–4.0.Many cracks,small size crystals,and dependent phase structures are generated by increasing the sinter basicity.The BS is lower than 4000 N when the basicity is 2.2 and 2.8.When the temperature is in the range of 1280–1300?C,the BS exceeds 4000 N with the basicity of 2.0,2.4,and 3.4–4.0.The pore size of the HCVTM sinters increases with the increase of the temperature.The perovskite decreases,whereas the silicate phase increases with basicity higher than 3.2.This study provides theoretical and technical foundations for the effective production of HCVTM sinters.展开更多
The effect of particle shape on the porosity and compressive strength of porous hydroxyapatite （HA） scaffolds was investigated by sintering the mixture of rod-shaped HA （r-HA） and spherical HA （s-HA） with polyac...The effect of particle shape on the porosity and compressive strength of porous hydroxyapatite （HA） scaffolds was investigated by sintering the mixture of rod-shaped HA （r-HA） and spherical HA （s-HA） with polyacrylamide used as the sacrificial template. It was found, for the first time, that addition of r-HA into s-HA could exponentially decrease the porosity of sintered HA scaffolds and enhance their compressive strength with the increase of r-HA content. The mechanism, according to the results from scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, lies in the restriction of s-HA to the grain formation and growth of r-HA during sintering and results in the fusion of r-HA with s-HA. These findings suggest that mixture of r-HA and s-HA might provide a new and facile way to improve the compressive strength of oorous HA scaffolds.展开更多
Fine-grained W-Ni-Mn-YOalloys were fabricated by mechanical alloying-assisted spark plasma sintering(SPS), and the effects of YOcontent on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys were studied. Fine-...Fine-grained W-Ni-Mn-YOalloys were fabricated by mechanical alloying-assisted spark plasma sintering(SPS), and the effects of YOcontent on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys were studied. Fine-grained 90 W-6 Ni-4 Mn-YOalloys with uniform microstructure and excellent properties were prepared by SPS at 1150 ℃. The addition of trace YOinhibited the sintering densification process and refined the W grain size. The average W grain size decreased from 5.5 μm to 2.1 μm.The fracture mode changed from W grain transgranular fracture and W-W interface fracture to W-W and W-Matrix phase interface fracture. The Rockwell hardness and bending strength of alloys initially increased and then decreased with increasing YOcontent. The optimum comprehensive mechanical properties(Rockwell hardness and bending strength) of the alloys were obtained at the same time when the mass fraction of YOwas 0.4%.展开更多
The effect of sintering temperature on the densification mechanisms, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of spark plasma sintered （SPS） compacts of a gas atomized Al-4.5 wt.%Cu alloy was investigated...The effect of sintering temperature on the densification mechanisms, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of spark plasma sintered （SPS） compacts of a gas atomized Al-4.5 wt.%Cu alloy was investigated. The powder particles whose size varied between 10 to 500μm was subjected to SPS at 400, 450 and 500℃ at a pressure of 30 MPa. The compact sintered at 500℃ exhibited fully dense microstructure which was characterized by a uniform distribution of the secondary phase, free of dendrites and micro-porosity. Microscopy and the SPS data reveal that the events such as particle rearrangement, localized deformation and bulk deformation appear to be the sequence of sintering mechanisms depending on the size range of powder particles used for consolidation. The compact sintered at 500℃ exhibited the highest hardness and compression strength since the microstructure was characterized by fine distribution of precipitates, large fraction of submicron grains and complete metallurgical bonding.展开更多
Iron powders were mixed with graphite powders by 1-15 wt pct to produce block samples using powder metallurgy technique. The powders were blended in a three dimensional blender for 20 min and compacted in a die under ...Iron powders were mixed with graphite powders by 1-15 wt pct to produce block samples using powder metallurgy technique. The powders were blended in a three dimensional blender for 20 min and compacted in a die under 500 MPa by using a one directional press. Sinterability and mechanical properties of the samples with different carbon content were investigated. Sintering process was carried out on a belt furnace with flame curtain in dissociated ammonia atmosphere. Block samples produced were suitable for ASTM B-312 transverse rupture strength test apparatus and were tested with 0.050 kN/s velocity in a press under 100 g load. It was found that graphite amount up to 2 wt pct increased the contact area of particles and acted as a lubricant to affect the sintering behaviour positively. The results indicated that the samples containing up to 5 wt pct showed good sintering behaviour and also good hardness due to an increase in pearlite amount. However, the samples containing higher amount of graphite （more than 5 wt pct） affected the sintering behaviour negatively due to the settlement of free graphite around the Fe powders, which resulted in a decrease in the hardness and transverse rupture strength.展开更多
The mixture of 90 wt%W, 7 wt%Ni and 3 wt%Fe elemental powders was milled in a planetary high-energy ball mill. The evolution of the structure during milling and the sintering behavior of the milled powders were tested...The mixture of 90 wt%W, 7 wt%Ni and 3 wt%Fe elemental powders was milled in a planetary high-energy ball mill. The evolution of the structure during milling and the sintering behavior of the milled powders were tested. The results showed that by mechanical alloying W(Ni, Fe) supersaturated solid solution with nano-meter size formed, which can enhance the sintering process. Fully dense alloy from the milled powders was obtained through solid state sintering. The tensile strength of the obtained alloy is over 900 MPa which is comparable to that of the alloy sintered by traditional liquid-phase sintering from un-milled powders of the same composition.展开更多
The present paper is related to the conversion of Ti–6Al–4V chips into powder and investigates the usability of the produced powder in powder metallurgy applications. In this regard, a disc-milling process was appli...The present paper is related to the conversion of Ti–6Al–4V chips into powder and investigates the usability of the produced powder in powder metallurgy applications. In this regard, a disc-milling process was applied to Ti–6Al–4V chips and the obtained powder was subsequently compacted. The compacted samples were sintered by the sinter hot isostatic pressing (sinter-HIP) method at 1200°C under high vacuum, their mechanical properties and microstructure were investigated and compared with those of commercial powder compacts subjected to the same preparation processes. The results showed that the produced powder exhibits greater flowability and higher apparent density than the commercial powder. However, the sintered products prepared from the commercial powder exhibited a higher relative density, lower porosity, and, as a result, greater flexural strength compared with the sintered compacts prepared from the produced powder. In addition, transgranular fracture was greater in the sintered products of the commercial powder. The microstructural studies revealed that the sintered products made from both the commercial and the produced powders consisted of α- and β-phase but contained more α-phase. All of the examined properties were found to be substantially affected by the particle size of the powders.展开更多
基金The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of associates and colleagues at Northeastern University of China and Meishan Steel of China.Also,the financial supports of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC 51874080,51774071,and 51604069)are appreciated very much.
文摘MgO-containing flux may have a series of effects on the quality of sinter and performances of the blast furnace.Thus,the fundamental mechanism of the effects of MgO on the sinter strength was investigated.Both the chemical reagent and industrial flux were used for preparing the specimens.The experimental results show that the sinter strength decreases with MgO addition.There are three reasons for it.The first reason is diffusion rate.Almost all of the CaO may react with Fe2O3 and generate CaO Fe2O3,but most of MgO cannot react with Fe2O3,and it still remains in the state of original minerals.The diffusion rate of MgO in iron oxide is only 17.51μm/min in 30 min.The second reason is the fluidity and ability to generate liquid phase.In the case of Fe2O3 mixed with CaO,there is some liquid phase formed above 1200℃,while in the case of Fe2O3 mixed with MgO,even at 1200 and 1220℃,there is still no liquid phase.The third reason is self-strength.In the case of industrial flux,the compression strength of the specimens made of Fe2O3 and limestone is 0.52 and 0.71 kN at 1150 and 1180℃,respectively,while that of the specimens made of Fe2O3 and magnesite is 0.48 and 0.56 kN,respectively.Therefore,the fundamental mechanism of the effects of MgO additive on sinter strength can be better understood based on the diffusion rate of MgO in iron oxides,the fluidity of liquid phase,and the self-strength of bonding phase.
文摘Some properties of the Fe-based P/M composites sintered and reinforced by infiltration with Cu-Sn alloy were described.It is shown that the hardness of the sintered material is 2.5 times lower,tensile strength is 1.7 times lower and the wear resistance is 2.5-3.3 times lower in comparison with those of the infiltrated material.The presence of pores on the friction surface of the sintered material affects the features of the wear process.Due to the specific morphology of copper in the infiltrated material,the phenomenon of selective mass transfer is observed and worn surfaces have a spongy-capillary texture.
基金financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. FRF-IC-14-006)
文摘Sinter body strength, which reflects the strength of sinter, plays an important role in the improvement of sinter. In this study, the sinter body strengths of iron ores were measured using a microsintering method. The relationship between the chemical composition and sinter body strength was discussed. Moreover, sinter-pot tests were performed. The effects of sinter body strength on the sintering indexes were then elucidated, and the bottom limit of sinter body strength of blending ores was confirmed. In the results, the compressive strengths（CSs） of iron ores are observed to decrease with the increasing of the contents of loss on ignition（LOI）, SiO 2, and Al2O3; however, LOI of less than 3wt% does not substantially influence the CSs of fine ores. In the case of similar mineral composition, the porosity, in particular, the ratio between the number of large pores and the total number of pores, strongly influences the sinter body strength. With an increase of the blending-ore CSs used in sinter-pot tests, the yield, productivity, and tumbler strength increase, and the solid fuel consumption decreases. The CSs of the blending ores only slightly affect the sintering time. The CS bottom limit of the blending ores is 310 N. When the CSs of the blending ores increase by 10%, the yield, productivity, and tumbler index increase by 1.9%, 2.8%, and 2.0%, respectively, and the solid fuel consumption decreases by 1.9%.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51475315)Innovative Project on the Integration of Industry,Education and Research of Jiangsu Province,China(No.BY2014059-10)
文摘In the present work,a study is made to investigate the effects of process parameters,namely,laser power,scanning speed,hatch spacing, layer thickness and powder temperature, on the tensile strength for selective laser sintering( SLS) of polystyrene( PS). Artificial neural network( ANN) methodology is employed to develop mathematical relationships between the process parameters and the output variable of the sintering strength. Experimental data are used to train and test the network. The present neural network model is applied to predicting the experimental outcome as a function of input parameters within a specified range. Predicted sintering strength using the trained back propagation( BP) network model showed quite a good agreement with measured ones. The results showed that the networks had high processing speed,the abilities of error-correcting and self-organizing. ANN models had favorable performance and proved to be an applicable tool for predicting sintering strength SLS of PS.
文摘Effects of sintering temperature in hot pressing, t yp es, states and amounts of rare earth as well as TiH 2 on the transverse rupture strength (TRS) of Fe-based composites are studied by means of orthogonal test and variance analysis in this paper. It is found that sintering temperature has a significant effect on the TRS of Fe-based diamond composites. The optimal sin tering temperature is 780～860 ℃. On the contrary, the effects of RE additi v es on values of TRS of the diamond composites have on distinct difference no mat ter the RE is in the state of mixture or compound or oxidization. Experimental r esults demonstrate that Fe-based diamond composites with RE additives exhibit h igher TRS, which results in an increase in diamond retention capacity. The degre e of increment of TRS is different at different sintering temperatures. The opti mal amount of rare earth was found to be about 1% in weight. The effect of RE is more significant at lower sintering temperature. The experimental results also reveal that TiH 2 additive has a negative effect on the TRS of Fe-based compos ites. Microscope observations demonstrate that specimen without TiH 2 additives , shows fewer pores and denser structures in the base metal. It can also be seen from the SEM observation of the resulting fracturing surface of bending test sp ecimens that the bonding of the diamond-matrix interface is better in the speci men without TiH 2 than in the specimen with TiH 2. Also the fracture surface o f the specimen without TiH 2 reveals ductile cup and cone behavior.
基金financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No.2013CB632603)the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (No.2015BAB19B02)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51674084,51174051,and 51574082)
文摘To develop a smelting process for the comprehensive utilization of high-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite(HCVTM),the micro-sinter test was applied to investigate the influence of basicity and temperature on the HCVTM sinters.The bonding phase strength(BS) was tested via an electronic universal testing machine.The phase transformations of the HCVTM sinters were detected via X-ray diffraction(XRD),whereas the structure and mineralogy of the HCVTM sinters under different temperatures and basicities were detected via scanning electron microscopy in combination with energy-dispersive spectroscopy(SEM–EDS).Our results demonstrate that the BS of the HCVTM sinters exhibits a slightly increasing tendency with an increase in temperature when the basicity is 2.4 and within the range of 2.8–4.0.Many cracks,small size crystals,and dependent phase structures are generated by increasing the sinter basicity.The BS is lower than 4000 N when the basicity is 2.2 and 2.8.When the temperature is in the range of 1280–1300?C,the BS exceeds 4000 N with the basicity of 2.0,2.4,and 3.4–4.0.The pore size of the HCVTM sinters increases with the increase of the temperature.The perovskite decreases,whereas the silicate phase increases with basicity higher than 3.2.This study provides theoretical and technical foundations for the effective production of HCVTM sinters.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11532004 and 31370946)the National Science and Technology Support Program of China (No. 2012BAI17B03-4)+1 种基金the Development of Strategic Emerging Industries of Shenzhen Project (Nos. JCYJ20140417113430596 and CXZZ201404171134 30716)the Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2015A010105021)
文摘The effect of particle shape on the porosity and compressive strength of porous hydroxyapatite （HA） scaffolds was investigated by sintering the mixture of rod-shaped HA （r-HA） and spherical HA （s-HA） with polyacrylamide used as the sacrificial template. It was found, for the first time, that addition of r-HA into s-HA could exponentially decrease the porosity of sintered HA scaffolds and enhance their compressive strength with the increase of r-HA content. The mechanism, according to the results from scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, lies in the restriction of s-HA to the grain formation and growth of r-HA during sintering and results in the fusion of r-HA with s-HA. These findings suggest that mixture of r-HA and s-HA might provide a new and facile way to improve the compressive strength of oorous HA scaffolds.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51464010,51461014)the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province(20165207)
文摘Fine-grained W-Ni-Mn-YOalloys were fabricated by mechanical alloying-assisted spark plasma sintering(SPS), and the effects of YOcontent on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys were studied. Fine-grained 90 W-6 Ni-4 Mn-YOalloys with uniform microstructure and excellent properties were prepared by SPS at 1150 ℃. The addition of trace YOinhibited the sintering densification process and refined the W grain size. The average W grain size decreased from 5.5 μm to 2.1 μm.The fracture mode changed from W grain transgranular fracture and W-W interface fracture to W-W and W-Matrix phase interface fracture. The Rockwell hardness and bending strength of alloys initially increased and then decreased with increasing YOcontent. The optimum comprehensive mechanical properties(Rockwell hardness and bending strength) of the alloys were obtained at the same time when the mass fraction of YOwas 0.4%.
文摘The effect of sintering temperature on the densification mechanisms, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of spark plasma sintered （SPS） compacts of a gas atomized Al-4.5 wt.%Cu alloy was investigated. The powder particles whose size varied between 10 to 500μm was subjected to SPS at 400, 450 and 500℃ at a pressure of 30 MPa. The compact sintered at 500℃ exhibited fully dense microstructure which was characterized by a uniform distribution of the secondary phase, free of dendrites and micro-porosity. Microscopy and the SPS data reveal that the events such as particle rearrangement, localized deformation and bulk deformation appear to be the sequence of sintering mechanisms depending on the size range of powder particles used for consolidation. The compact sintered at 500℃ exhibited the highest hardness and compression strength since the microstructure was characterized by fine distribution of precipitates, large fraction of submicron grains and complete metallurgical bonding.
文摘Iron powders were mixed with graphite powders by 1-15 wt pct to produce block samples using powder metallurgy technique. The powders were blended in a three dimensional blender for 20 min and compacted in a die under 500 MPa by using a one directional press. Sinterability and mechanical properties of the samples with different carbon content were investigated. Sintering process was carried out on a belt furnace with flame curtain in dissociated ammonia atmosphere. Block samples produced were suitable for ASTM B-312 transverse rupture strength test apparatus and were tested with 0.050 kN/s velocity in a press under 100 g load. It was found that graphite amount up to 2 wt pct increased the contact area of particles and acted as a lubricant to affect the sintering behaviour positively. The results indicated that the samples containing up to 5 wt pct showed good sintering behaviour and also good hardness due to an increase in pearlite amount. However, the samples containing higher amount of graphite （more than 5 wt pct） affected the sintering behaviour negatively due to the settlement of free graphite around the Fe powders, which resulted in a decrease in the hardness and transverse rupture strength.
文摘The mixture of 90 wt%W, 7 wt%Ni and 3 wt%Fe elemental powders was milled in a planetary high-energy ball mill. The evolution of the structure during milling and the sintering behavior of the milled powders were tested. The results showed that by mechanical alloying W(Ni, Fe) supersaturated solid solution with nano-meter size formed, which can enhance the sintering process. Fully dense alloy from the milled powders was obtained through solid state sintering. The tensile strength of the obtained alloy is over 900 MPa which is comparable to that of the alloy sintered by traditional liquid-phase sintering from un-milled powders of the same composition.
基金financially supported by Faculty Member Training Program funded by Council of Higher Education Turkey [OYP-05276-DR-12]
文摘The present paper is related to the conversion of Ti–6Al–4V chips into powder and investigates the usability of the produced powder in powder metallurgy applications. In this regard, a disc-milling process was applied to Ti–6Al–4V chips and the obtained powder was subsequently compacted. The compacted samples were sintered by the sinter hot isostatic pressing (sinter-HIP) method at 1200°C under high vacuum, their mechanical properties and microstructure were investigated and compared with those of commercial powder compacts subjected to the same preparation processes. The results showed that the produced powder exhibits greater flowability and higher apparent density than the commercial powder. However, the sintered products prepared from the commercial powder exhibited a higher relative density, lower porosity, and, as a result, greater flexural strength compared with the sintered compacts prepared from the produced powder. In addition, transgranular fracture was greater in the sintered products of the commercial powder. The microstructural studies revealed that the sintered products made from both the commercial and the produced powders consisted of α- and β-phase but contained more α-phase. All of the examined properties were found to be substantially affected by the particle size of the powders.
