Effects of niobium carbide on reinforcement of sintered stainless steel properties

Abstract

Sintered stainless steels have a wide range of applications, mainly in the automotive industry. The properties such density, strength, corrosion and wear resistance can be improved through addition amount of particles of carbides. This work present a study of sintering of stainless steel with Niobium Carbide with the goal of reinforce the final product. The Niobium Carbide was obtained by gas solid reaction under methane-hydrogen atmosphere at low temperature using ammonium niobium-oxalate precursor. The samples were prepared by mixing the powder with 0,6 wt % of wax, compacting in steel die and sintered in a atmosphere of H2-N2 mixture. The result is evaluated through measurements of sintering density, hardness, tensile, strength and microstructure analyses. Also is presented a study of corrosion got from the test with salt spray. The particles of carbide were obtained in our laboratory and has grain’s size distribution of nanoparticles and improve corrosion resistance without degrading mechanical properties.