Microstructure and microhardness properties of Fe-Cr-Al2O 3 composites

• Published in: Malaysian Journal of Microscopy
• Main Author: 2-s2.0-78049499296
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Biomedicine 2010
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-78049499296&partnerID=40&md5=0bbdeacad7346a9196fb3a3bf2d8392f

The requirement for high performance materials of high wear and corrosion resistance lead to an increasing interest in ferrous matrix composites. Metal matrix composite of iron-chromium reinforced with alumina was fabricated using conventional powder metallurgy route: mixing, pressing and sintering. The mixing stage is critical if a homogeneous material with good properties is to be produced. In the present investigation, Fe-Cr-Al2O3 composites with various mixing duration were analyzed. According to X-ray diffraction (XRD), the composites have formed binary alloy of Fe-Cr alloy. The microstructure of the composites contains mostly alumina particle distributed uniformly throughout iron-chromium matrix. Half an hour mixing duration gave highest in micro-hardness value (86.68 HV), percentage of shrinkage (1.9%) and bulk density (6.0006 gcm-3), but lowest percentage of porosity (7.3).