Microstructural analysis of iron aluminide fabricated from iron mill scale by powder metallurgy method

Abstract

This research describes the microstructural of iron aluminide which fabricated from iron mill scale by powder metallurgy method. The raw material used consists of iron mill scale and aluminum powder. Iron mill scale is obtained from steel plant company in north Malaysia. This mill scale was milled for 4 hours with grinding media to produce a fine particle size and then the mill scale was sieved into a different size. After that, the premix of iron mill scale and aluminum powder was compacted with 5.7 ton load and the process was conducted at room temperature. The green compact were subjected to sinter in condition of nitrogen atmosphere at 500ûC with 8°C/min heating rate and soaking time was set for 30 minute. The structural characteristics of sintered sample and raw material investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) methods are presented. SEM result of the sintered sample obtained at 500ûC showed that some particle of iron mill scale do not react with aluminum powder to create bonding together. This means the temperature that used for sintering do not reached the suitable sintering temperature.