Investigation on the effects of the sintering process on the properties of powder metallurgy high-speed steel based on thermodynamic calculations

This work presents a preparative investigation of novel high-performance powder high-speed steel utilizing phase diagram thermodynamic calculations. Firstly, vertical section calculations of the alloy and phase composition evolution under varying compositions were performed to guide the selection of sintering and heat treatment processes. Subsequently, samples were fabricated from elemental powders (e.g., Fe, Co, V) using mechanical ball milling combined with vacuum-activated sintering. Microstructural and phase analyses were conducted on the raw materials, ball-milled mixed powders, and sintered samples to explore the effect of sintering parameters on sample density. Results demonstrate that samples sintered at 1200 °C exhibit optimal density and mechanical properties.