Sinter
hardening can produce powder metal parts with high strength and apparent hardness in a single pass through the
sintering furnace This process eliminates the need for a post-sintering heat treatment with the inherent related drawbacks such as part distortion,oil contamination and added processing costs Low alloy steel powders have been developed for
Sinter hardening applications These materials,combined with the availability of sintering furnaces equipped with enhanced cooling capacity,make sinter hardening particularly attractive for parts that are difficult to
quench because of their size or shape The
transfer case sprocket,recently developed by MascoTech Sintered Components,is a good example of a successful application of the
Sinter hardening process using these low alloy powders This paper describes the influence of the mix formulation and the sintering parameters on mechanical properties of selected sinter hardenable materials and the approach taken to convert a major line of sprockets from a traditional mold,sinter,size and quench process to a cost effective mold and sinter harden process