New High Performance Ferrous P/M Materials for Demanding Automotive Applications

Diffusion-alloyed powders have been used for many years in automotive applications such as synchronizer hubs where there is a need for a combination of tensile strength, ductility, and impact energy. Recently, engineered binder-treated premixes have been developed as alternatives to diffusion-alloyed powders including those based on a prealloyed powder (1.5 w/o molybdenum). The engineered binder-treated materials will be compared with their diffusion-alloyed counterparts. In addition, a series of new ferrous P/M alloys has been developed to match the performance characteristics of malleable and ductile cast irons. The new materials maintain excellent tensile ductility at high strength levels while possessing good impact resistance. Potential applications for these new products include ring gears, helical pinion gears, and parking lock gears for automatic transmissions.