The Effects Of Alloying, Sintering, And Heat-Treatment On The Properties And Microstructures Of SiCp/Ferrolloy-Based Composites

Because of its excellent properties,such as high strength,high module,wear resisting,and etc.,SiCp was added to ferroalloy as a reinforce phase. But the intrinsic difference between the bonds led to poor fabrication of the composites. In this paper,the effects of alloying,sintering,and heat-treatment on the properties and microstructures of SiCp/ferroalloy-based composites were studied,:It was found that SiC particles reacted with ferroalloy when sintered in 1100. SiC particles plated with nickel delayed the reaction between the particles and the ferroalloy matrix. The addition of chromium restrained the reaction also.The reinforce phases depressed the shrinkage of the composites in the process of sintering. The sintering shrinkage increased with increasing sintering temperature. Copper,and chromium were the alloying agents used in this study. They strengthened the matrix and improved the properties of the composites. Especially,the addition of chromium greatly improved the wear resistance of the material.Quenching and tempering were chosen to strengthen the material. The quenching temperature and time were adjusted based on the hardness measurement. The heat treatment greatly improved the whole properties of the material. No reaction was between the silicon carbide particles and the ferroalloy matrix during the heat treatment. However the microstructures of the reaction existed before the heat treatment remained untouched. The heat treated Fe-Cu-C alloy-based composite sintered at 1100C was found to be a kind of ideal wear resistant material.