Low Pressure Carburizing of Powder Metal Components

Low Pressure Carburizing of Powder Metal Components Components made of powder metal (“PM-components”) are established in today’s transmission industry as a cost efficient alternative even for high strength and high precision powertrain applications. One major step in the development was to combine the freedom in alloying-concepts of the PM-technology with the advantages of the Low Pressure Carburizing (LPC) heat treatment process. Therefore, the process of Low Pressure Carburizing (LPC) combined with High Pressure Gas Quenching (HPGQ) was adapted to the special needs of serial production of PM-components. This heat treatment process offers significant benefits, such as: - no overcarburizing and excessive carbide-formation due to precise diffusion of carbon into the components - reproducible microstructures from part to part and from load to load - clean and shiny parts after quenching - superior control of distortion, - no intergranular oxidation, - better fatigue resistance and - the benefits of an environmentally friendly process. Over the past 25 years, Stackpole and ALD worked on powder metal technology and advanced heat treatment processes. This presentation will give an insight into benefits and challenges of PM-components heat treated in low pressure with subsequent gas quenching. 1 2