Institute of Metals Division - Iron Alumina Materials

Studies were made on the system iron plus alumina. Various methods of dispersing and various amounts of alumina were used. Powder metallurgy techniques were used to produce the final product. Microstructures and some mechanical properties are presented. Alloys containing up to 16 pct alumina by weight are ductile at all temperatures tested. The ivon-alumina materials have a higher yield stress and improved creep resistance over that of pure iron. SINCE the development of SAP' an A1- Al2O3 powder metallurgy product, great interest has been shown in the development of a SAP-like structure in metals and alloys other than aluminum. The outstanding properties of this class of materials are: 1) Good creep resistance at high temperature. 2) High yield strengths and high hardness at high temperatures. 3) High recrystallization temperature. However, the lack of ductility and formability has thus far limited the applications of SAP-like materials. The following report deals with methods of dispersing A12O3 in Fe, processing of powders into rod, structures produced after processing, and mechanical properties of the iron-alumina material produced. Methods of dispersing the alumina and also the volume fraction of alumina added were varied. MATERIAL Powder Processing— Four methods of obtaining dispersions of alumina in iron were studied. 1) Oxidation-reduction of a Fe + 8 pct Al alloy. .2) Coprecipitation of Fe(OH)3 + Al(OH)3 from aqueous solution. 3) Colloidal mixing of Fe,O3 and Al2O3. 4) Colloidal mixing of Fe powder and A1,O3. Fig. 1 is a processing flowsheet which outlines the processing steps taken to produce a final extruded bar 1/4 in. in diameter and about 30 in. long. The - 100 mesh iron-aluminum alloy was oxidized by placing a thin layer of powder on an alumina plaque. The reduction step was modified to include 1/2 hr at 1000°C since the powders tended to become pyro-phoric unless sintered slightly after low-temperature reduction. Compacting was done in a 1-1/8-in.-diam pressing die. The slugs produced averaged 1 in. in length. The billets were encased in low-carbon steel cans shown schematically in Fig. 2. The blank is included for structure and property comparison purposes. TESTING PROCEDURE All tests were made on as-extruded material.