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0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
S
t
r
e
s
s
(
M
P
a
)
Strain (%)
Fe-Ni-Cu
Fe-Ni
Figure 6. Tensile behavior of Fe-Ni-Cu and Fe-Ni alloys. Note the higher strength and work
hardening rate in the Fe-Ni-Cu alloy.
The fatigue behavior for both alloys was also quite different. The stress versus cycles behavior for both
alloys, Fig. 8, showed that the addition of Cu significantly increased fatigue resistance. In order to
compare the fatigue strength (taken as fatigue runout at 10
7
cycles) to tensile behavior, we examined the
ratio of fatigue strength to tensile strength,
fat
/
uts
, and the ratio of fatigue strength to proportional limit
stress,
fat
/
pl
, Table 4. Due to the porosity in these materials, the fatigue ratio of
fat
/
uts
was significantly
lower than for fully dense Cu-containing steels, where the ratio is between 0.5-0.6 [10]. While the
fat
/
uts
ratio was around 0.25 for both alloys, the
fat
/
pl
ratio was around 0.80 for both alloys. This can be
explained by the fact the proportional limit stress is a very good indicator of the onset of plasticity, which
in sintered materials takes place at the tips of the pores. In fatigue loading, this localized damage is more
likely to be controlling fatigue life, than large-scale plasticity that takes place close to the ultimate tensile
strength. Thus, the proportional limit stress may be a much better indicator of the fatigue strength than
ultimate tensile strength. It should be noted that the method by which proportional limit is measured is
limited by the accuracy of the technique and resolution of the stress-strain data acquisition, so more
effective measurement techniques of the proportional limit stress may yield even better correlation to
fatigue strength.
Figure 8. Stress versus cycles behavior of Fe-Ni-Cu and Fe-Ni alloys. The addition of Cu
enhances the fatigue resistance of the alloy.
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
7
10
8
Fe-Ni-Cu
Fe-Ni
S
t
r
e
s
s
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
(
M
P
a
)
Cycles to Failure, N
f
Figure 7. Tensile fracture surface, characteristic of both alloys, shown localized ruptured at sintered bonds.
Table 4. Fatigue endurance limit and its ratio with ultimate tensile strength and proportional limit stress.
Alloy Fatigue Strength
(MPa)
Proportional
Limit Stress
(MPa)
Ultimate Tensile
Strength
(MPa)
fat
/
pl
fat
/
uts
Fe-Ni-Cu 170 221 797 0.77 0.21
Fe-Ni 160 190 570 0.84 0.28
Fractography indicated that fatigue crack initiation took place at large pores, particularly at the surface of
the specimen, Fig. 9. Porosity has long been attributed as the preferred site for fatigue crack initiation at
or near the surface in sintered materials [1-4, 11-16]. Polasik et al. [4] have also shown that in the high
cycle fatigue regime, most of the fatigue life is spent in crack nucleation rather than crack propagation.
Thus, while the Cu-containing alloy had a larger density of small secondary pores, which would be
conducive to easier crack propagation since the mean free path between pores decreases, this did not
significantly deter the fatigue strength. Rather, since the primary pore distribution in both alloys was not
significantly different, the higher strength and fatigue resistance of the Fe-Ni-Cu matrix around the pores
was more significant in contributing to the higher fatigue strength.
The fatigue fracture surface also exhibited localized fatigue striations. Unlike striations in wrought
materials, however, the striations in porous sintered materials seemed to be highly localized. This may be
due to the multiple sites of favorable orientation and size, with respect to the loading axis, that underwent
blunting and sharpening and give the step-like appearance of the striations. Similar localized fatigue
striations were also observed by Rodzinak and Slesar [17].
Figure 10. Localized fatigue striations observed in both alloys.
Figure 9. Surface pore associated with fatigue crack nucleation site.
CONCLUSIONS
The mechanical behavior of binder-treated Fe-0.85Mo prealloy with Cu, Ni, and graphite additions was
investigated. In particular, the effect of Cu on tensile and fatigue behavior was studied, yielding the
following conclusions:
1. The transient liquid phase formed by the presence of Cu resulted in more rounded pores in the Fe-Ni-
Cu alloy compared to Fe-Ni. While the total porosity was similar in both alloys, a larger fraction of
secondary pores was present in the Fe-Ni-Cu.
2. The addition of Cu resulted in an increase in proportional limit stress and ultimate tensile strength
over the Cu-free alloy. Copper diffusion into iron seems to contribute to enhanced resistance to
dislocation motion resulting in an increase in work hardening rate over the Fe-Ni alloy. Both alloys
exhibited similar fracture mechanisms, consisting primarily of ductile rupture at sintered particle
bonds.
3. Fe-Ni-Cu alloy had a higher fatigue resistance than the Fe-Ni alloy. The higher fatigue resistance can
be attributed to the enhanced solid solution strengthening and more rounded pores provided by Cu in
Fe, particularly since the amount of primary porosity in both materials was similar. The proportional
limit stress appears to be a good indicator of fatigue strength, since it quantifies the onset of localized
plasticity in these materials.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank Hoeganaes Corp. for financial support of this work.
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