Oxygen content of iron powder

1. The determination of oxygen content in reduced iron powder often uses the hydrogen loss test method in GB/T 5158-1999. This method will heat the iron powder in the hydrogen stream under the specified conditions, and the oxides will be reduced by hydrogen, losing oxygen and thus quality. Decrease, estimate the corresponding oxygen content by mass reduction.

2. In the field of powder metallurgy, if the oxygen content in the iron powder exceeds the standard, decarbonization occurs in the sintered product during the sintering process, thereby loosening the interior of the product, increasing the size, and deteriorating the mechanical strength. Due to the loss of carbon, the desired hardness is not achieved after the heat treatment process. In general, the determination of excessive oxygen content in iron powder is particularly important for powder metallurgy. If powder metallurgy manufacturers do not perform oxygen content inspection on incoming raw material iron powder, once the oxygen content exceeds the standard, iron powder is put into production. After the sintering and quenching, the quality defects can be discovered. As a result, they cannot be reworked and scrapped. This not only wastes valuable man-hours, but also brings serious economic losses.

3. The method for measuring oxygen content in reduced iron powder includes the following steps: preparation of test materials, production of compacts, sintering, testing, and calculation of oxygen content. The present invention does not need to be equipped with related professional operators, and only powder metallurgy plants are commonly used. The instruments such as material testing machines, sintering furnaces, carbon and sulfur analyzers, etc., are easy to operate and economical; they can effectively detect oxygen content in the iron powder at any time exceeding the standard, so as to avoid reducing the related performance of the final product.

4. The oxygen content of the reduced iron powder used in powder metallurgy related industries is generally around 0.15%, which may vary depending on the process.