Summary: | <p>The effect of ball milling on the compaction and sintering of nanocrystalline FC-0205 powder was studied in this work. As-received micron-sized FC-0205 powder was subjected to High Energy Ball Milling (HEBM) in an argon atmosphere at different milling time of 0, 8, 16, 20 and 24 hours to obtain nanocrystalline structures. Unmilled, 8 and 16 hour milled powder were compacted using uniaxial die compression at a pressure ranging from 274 MPa to 775 MPa to obtain a relative density from 74% to 95%. The steel powder compacts were sintered at temperatures ranging from 400 °C (752 °F) to 1120 °C (2048 °F) in a controlled atmosphere. Microscopy analysis using Optical Microscope (OM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) was performed on the milled powder, and on the green and sintered compacts to examine the grain size, morphology and agglomeration.</p>
|