Fabrication and material properties of powder injection molded Fe sintered bodies using nano Fe powder

Injection molded Fe sintered bodies were fabricated using two kinds of Fe powders which have an average size of 50 nm and a diameter of 3 μm, respectively. Using Fe powder of about 50 nm in diameter, comparatively dense bodies (94–97%) were obtained even at a low sintering temperature (600 °C–700 °C), whereas the Fe sintered body (1100 °C) using about 3 μm Fe powder showed relatively low density (about 93%). In the sintered bodies using 50 nm Fe powders, the grain size increased as the sintering temperature increased, but the values of hardness decreased. In the sample sintered at 650 °C, the values of relative density and grain size were 96% and 0.97 μm, respectively. The minimum value of wear depth was obtained due to the combination of fine grain size and comparatively high relative density.