Abstract

The infiltration of powder compacts of T15 high speed steel with a copper alloy and their response to quenching and tempering were studied. A set of experimental conditions was established to obtain infiltrated material with a fine microstructure, low porosity and low dimensional change. The as-infiltrated microstructure consists of islands of the copper alloy in an austenite-martensite matrix with a dispersion of M6C carbides and V-rich particles which are probably carbonitrides. Optimal microstructures were obtained using powders without carbon addition and infiltrating under an atmosphere of 90v/oN2/10v/oH2 at 1373K. After quenching and triple-tempering, a maximum hardness of 55 Rc is reached for a tempering temperature of 798K.