POWDER METALLURGICAL PROCESSING OF HIGH-MANGANESE STEELS INTO PARTS

Although high-manganese steels may have desirable mechanical strength and corrosion resistance, machining and casting can be difficult. Alternatively, high-manganese steel parts may be fabricated to near-net shape parts using powder metallurgical processing, such as hot pressing and powder injection molding, thereby significantly minimizing or eliminating the need for further machining of fabricated parts. Hot pressing processes may comprise: loading a container with a plurality of particulates comprising a high-manganese steel; establishing a reduced pressure state in the container after loading the container with the plurality of particulates, and sealing the container to maintain the reduced pressure state therein and to afford a sealed container; placing the sealed container in a pressure vessel; heating the pressure vessel at a predetermined temperature while applying a predetermined pressure isostatically to an exterior surface of the sealed container with a pressurizing gas to consolidate the plurality of particulates into a densified part having a near-net shape; and removing the sealed container to expose a surface of the densified part.