Investigation of the Effect of Iron Stearate on the Processing and Physical Properties of Powder Alloyed Steel SP40KhSMF

The effect of iron stearate on the processing and physical properties of SP40KhSMF powder alloyed steel is studied in this paper. Iron stearate is introduced in amounts of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 wt %. It is found that introducing iron stearate into the furnace charge of SP40KhSMF powder steel increases flowability and decreases bulk density. Also, iron stearate favorably affects the compressibility of blanks made of the powder mixture of SP40KhSMF steel. The highest values of density are demonstrated by the samples pressed under 800 MPa, in which the amount of introduced iron stearate is 3 wt %. In addition, it is found that introducing iron stearate into the powder mixture of SP40KhSMF steel results in a slight increase in the average particle size.