Tribological behavior of sintered electrolytic iron‐zinc stearate added compacts

Powder metallurgy is an effective method to give near net shape to powder particles. In this paper, the influence of powder particle size, lubricant and compaction load on hardness and wear loss has been investigated as it influences the compact. Electrolytic iron powder (250 mesh to 300 mesh and 300 mesh to 350 mesh) with zinc stearate (0 weight % to 2 weight %) was used for preparing the samples. Green samples were prepared by cold compaction process at different loads (400 kN, 450 kN and 500 kN). Pre‐sintering was done at 550 °C. Taguchi′s (L 18 ) mixed level model was used to develop the regression equation for hardness and wear loss. The maximum hardness of 79 HRB was achieved with 300 mesh to 350 mesh particle size and 500 kN compaction load. Minimum wear volume loss was observed with samples having composition of 250 mesh to 300 mesh size electrolytic iron powder at 500 kN compaction load and 1 weight % lubricant content.