Aproveitamento de resíduos de granalha de aço-carbono por metalurgia do pó

Abstract

This research has determined the parameters of powder metallurgy in order to use the wasted powder from the shot blasting process and transform it in components. The wasted was evaluated by its physical and micro-structural characteristics, and the sintered bodies were characterized for its micro-structural, hardness and density. The particles of the wasted powder were characterized according the size distribution in sieving and found a Gaussian distribution with a medium particle dimension of 180 µm. In the morphologic evaluation of the wasted by image analysis, it was possible to identify that the predominant shape of the particles bigger than 300 µm were spherical, with circularity of 0.86, while the smaller particles were plate-shaped with the circularity of 0.76. The properties of flow rate determined by the Angle of Repose and the Hall Flowmeter Funnel methods achieved similar values of commercial powders. The Archimedes density of green and sintered bodies and the apparent density of Arnold and Hall Flowmeter Funnel were evaluated. The optimal mixture with higher density, composed by 1/6 small + 1/6 medium + 2/3 big, was found from pre-established mixtures according to the simplex lattice design and the technique of tapped density. Different mixtures were compacted in an uniaxial press with a single-action in 990 MPa and later sintered in 1200ºC with a controlled argon atmosphere. The sintered bodies showed a growing neck stage, a micro-structure with globular cementite in a ferritie matrix, and the micro-hardness of 208 HV. In this work, it was possible to determine the parameters of powder metallurgy and the mixture of particle sizes in order to obtain components with 90% density in relation to theoric density, which is found in commercial products. In order to complete this study, the tapped density equipment was designed and built by the author.