Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511

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Materials Science and Engineering A

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Effect of carbon content on instantaneous strain-hardening behaviour

of powder metallurgy steels
R. Narayanasamy a,∗ , V. Anandakrishnan a , K.S. Pandey b
a
Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, Tamilnadu, India
b
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, Tamilnadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Complete experimental investigation on the instantaneous strain-hardening behaviour of powder met-
Received 24 May 2008 allurgy preforms of pure iron and steels containing 0.4% and 0.8% carbon were carried out. The
Received in revised form 26 July 2008 above-mentioned powder metallurgy sintered preforms with two different aspect ratios namely 0.39
Accepted 28 July 2008
and 0.59 were cold upset with graphite as lubricant and their strain-hardening behaviour under triax-
ial stress state condition was evaluated. For all the above-said preforms the stress–strain relationship
Keywords:
was established, instantaneous strain hardening index was determined and its variation with respect to
Forming
the axial strain and the relative density were plotted, studied and discussed relative to their as-sintered
Powder metallurgy
Plastic behaviour
microstructures. Also the characteristics of the instantaneous strength coefficient with respect to the
Strain hardening relative density was analyzed and presented.
Work hardening © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Powder metallurgy (P/M) processing is a net or near net-shaped
manufacturing technology, which in many instances stamp out the
need for most of the secondary machining operations. The parts
produced by powder metallurgy methods are also unique and inno-
vative. The automotive and off-highway vehicle applications take
over the ferrous P/M structural parts market. Pure iron or very-
low-carbon steel is a familiar structural or bearing material [1,2].
Powder preform forging involves the fabrication of a preform by
the conventional P/M processing technique, followed by the con-
ventional forging of the preform to its final shape with substantial
densification [3].
The cold upset forging of powder metallurgy composites is sub-
jected to both ductile fracture and the strain hardening. These two
predominating mechanisms manage the feasibility of the powder
forging operations and help to achieve the good quality in the prop-
erties of the final products. Ductile fracture is the common mode
of failure, which is a convoluted phenomenon that is reliant upon
process parameters such as stress, strain, strain rate, friction, etc.,
and the material parameters namely the strain-hardening expo-
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 431 250 1801; fax: +91 431 250 0133.
E-mail addresses: narayan@nitt.edu (R. Narayanasamy),
vanandakrishnan@rediffmail.com (V. Anandakrishnan), kspmet@yahoo.co.in
(K.S. Pandey).
nent, the strength coefficient, the density coefficient and the strain
rate sensitivity. Ductile criteria of metal are broadly investigated
by many researchers [4–7]. Narayanasamy et al. [8] proposed a
new mathematical equation for the calculation of yield stress for
simple upsetting compression test for powder metallurgy mate-
rials. A new yield function for compressible P/M materials was
suggested by Doraivelu et al. [9] and it has been verified experimen-
tally. Deformation characteristics of sintered powder materials was
investigated by Kuhn and Downey [10] and they proposed a yield
theory, which is a function of the second invariant of the stress
deviator.
Strain hardening/work hardening is an imperative phe-
nomenon, which governs the plastic behaviour of materials. This
phenomenon occurs during the plastic deformation due to the
generation and the interaction of dislocations. The dislocation den-
sity increases with increasing degree of deformation. Basically,
the larger the number of dislocations produced, the larger their
interaction and hence the larger the stress required for the yield-
ing of metal. Inigoraj et al. [11] investigated the strain-hardening
behaviour of sintered aluminium alumina composite preforms
during axial compression tests and concluded that the strain-
hardening exponent (n) consist of two segments, one representing
the work hardening of the matrix material and the other due to
densification. Cold upsetting experiment was carried out by Sel-
vakumar and Narayanasamy [12] on sintered aluminium preforms
to evaluate the work-hardening characteristics. In cold working,
a porous material would experience the usual strain or work-

0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2008.07.053
506 R. Narayanasamy et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511

ther the characteristics of instantaneous strain hardening index (ni )

Nomenclature with respect to the relative density (R) and the axial strain (εz ) were
investigated and reported. Also the variation of the instantaneous
D0 initial diameter of the preform strength coefficient (Ki ) with respect to the relative density (R) was
DB bulged diameter of the preform after deformation determined and presented.
DBC bottom contact diameter of the preform after defor-
mation
2. Experimental details
DTC top contact diameter of the preform after deforma-
tion
2.1. Compacts preparation
F force applied on the cylindrical preform for defor-
mation
Atomized iron powder of −150 ␮m was procured and analyzed
h0 initial height of the cylindrical preform
for its purity. The same was found to be 99.7% and 0.3% insolu-
hf height of the barreled cylinder after deformation
ble impurities. The characteristics of iron powder were studied by
K strength coefficient
determining the flow rate, the apparent density and the particle
Ki instantaneous strength coefficient
size distribution and the observations are given in Table 1. Fig. 1(a)
n strain-hardening exponent
shows the SEM photograph of iron powder. Powder mix corre-
ni instantaneous strain-hardening exponent
sponding to Fe–0% C, Fe–0.4% C and Fe–0.8% C were blended on
R (or) f /th relative density
a pot mill to obtain a homogeneous powder blend. The mesh size
Greek symbols of carbon powder mixed had fallen between 5 and 10 ␮m. Green
˛ Poisson’s ratio compacts of the powder blend with initial preform density of 84% of
ε true strain the theoretical density are prepared on a 1.0 MN capacity hydraulic
εeff effective strain press using suitable punch and die setup.
εr true strain in the radial direction The free surfaces of the compacts were coated with an indige-
εz true strain in the axial direction nously developed ceramic mixture [15] and dried under room
ε true strain in the hoop direction temperature conditions for a period of 9 h. A second coating was
0 initial preform density of the preform applied at a direction of 90◦ to the direction of first coating and
f density of the preform after deformation allowed to dry for a further period of 9 h under the same conditions
th theoretical density of the fully dense material as stated above.
 true stress
 eff effective stress 2.2. Sintering
m hydrostatic stress
r true stress in the radial direction Sintering of plain iron powder sequentially involves the estab-
z true stress in the axial direction lishment and growth of bonds between the particles of powder
 true stress in the hoop direction at their areas of contact, grain growth and migration of the grain
boundaries formed at the bonds, spheroidization of the pores
between the particles, and the elimination of small pores (and
possibly the growth of larger pores). As the sintering temperature
hardening characteristic as well as geometrical work hardening.
increases, porosity decreases and shrinkage increases [16]. Bonds
This, in fact, explains why the flow stress increases as the amount of
form between the particles during sintering, and the number of
axial strain is increased. However, the rate of increase in the stress
particle bonds increases as the temperature increases. In addition,
value with respect to strain is greater than that which would be
some grain growth and spheroidization of pores occur as sintering
observed in a fully dense material of the same composition under
temperature increases. In the case of sintering mixtures of iron and
identical testing conditions, as the continued reduction in porosity
graphite powders apart from establishment and growth of iron-
level during upsetting increases the load-bearing cross-sectional
to-iron bonds, diffusion of carbon into and combination of carbon
area. This, in turn, increases the stress required for further defor-
with iron and spheroidization of pores occur. Aside from bonding,
mation, resulting in strain or work-hardening behaviour. Thus the
total work-hardening behaviour in a porous material is due to the
combined effects of densification and cold working [13]. The char- Table 1
Characterization of iron powder
acteristic of stress–strain curves such as work-hardening exponent
and stress ratio are expected to play a vital role in carrying out the Characteristics Iron
plastic deformation of porous material. Narayanasamy and Pandey Apparent density (g/cm )3
3.26
[14] investigated the work-hardening characteristics of sintered Flow rate (s) per 50 g 24.5
aluminium–iron composite preform and have established that the Compressibility (g/cm3 ) at a pressure of 400 ± 10 MPa 6.20
initial geometry of the P/M preforms has played a predominant
role in influencing both the strain-hardening exponent (n) and the Sieve analysis

strength coefficient (K). Sieve size (␮m) Percent distribution (weight)

In the present work the strain-hardening behaviour of powder 150 3.88
metallurgy preforms of pure iron and steels containing 0.4% and +125 20.21
0.8% of carbon were completely investigated experimentally. Pre- +106 9.10
forms with 84% initial preform relative density and with different +90 3.40
+75 20.80
aspect ratios namely 0.39 and 0.59 were subjected to cold deforma- +63 17.92
tion with graphite lubricant and their strain-hardening behaviour +53 4.60
under triaxial stress state condition was studied. The stress–strain +45 1.91
relationship for the aforesaid, three different powder metallurgy +37 3.72
−37 13.20
preforms having two different aspect ratios was established. Fur-
 R. Narayanasamy et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511 507

the main factor affecting the properties of a sintered steel part is

the amount of combined carbon formed in the steel. The maximum
combined carbon content is achieved at 1040 ◦ C while additional
strengthening at higher temperature is caused by increased sin-
tering, as evidenced by the elimination of grain boundaries and
spheroidization of pores. Time of sintering also affects the amount
of combined carbon formed. The sintering time above 120 min leads
to almost complete absence of grain boundaries and substantial
spheroidization of pores. Accounting the afore-mentioned charac-
teristics of sintered powder metallurgy steels, the ceramic-coated
compacts were sintered in an electric muffle furnace in the tem-
perature range of 1120 ± 10 ◦ C for a sintering time of 120 min and
allowed to get cooled to room temperature in the furnace itself.
The microstructure of as-sintered pure iron P/M preform showing
spheroidization of pores in black color, the ferrite white regions
and few regions of eutectoid (pearlite) is shown in Fig. 1(b). Addi-
tion of 0.4% carbon which resulted in reduced pores and more
amount of eutectoid (pearlite) with white background of ferrite
grains are shown in Fig. 1(c). As-sintered 0.8% carbon steel con-
tains very few pores with ferrite/pearlite microstructure as shown
in Fig. 1(d). All the above-said microstructures show elimination of
grain boundaries and spheroidization of pores due to higher sinter-
ing temperature and time. The ceramic coatings over the specimen
were machined off and further machining was carried out to such
dimensions, to obtain preforms with initial aspect ratios of 0.39 and
0.59.

2.3. Deformation test

Initial diameter (D0 ), initial height (h0 ) and the initial pre-
form relative density (0 ) of the specimen were measured and
recorded. Each compact was subjected to the incremental com-
pressive loads of 0.05 MN and the upsetting was carried between
two flat, mirror finished open dies on a hydraulic press of 1.0 MN
capacity. The deformation was carried out until the appearance
of the first visible crack on the free surface. In order to get a
quite homogeneous deformation, graphite lubricant was applied
on both of the die contact surfaces during cold deformation, which
also ensured the absolute minimum friction condition. After each
interval of loading, dimensional changes in the specimen such
as height after deformation (hf ), top contact diameter (DTC ), bot-
tom contact diameter (DBC ), bulged diameter (DB ) and density
of the preform (f ) were measured. Using the Archimedes prin-
ciple [17], the density of forged preforms were also determined
after every loading interval. The schema showing the various
parameters measured before and after deformation is given in
Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. The SEM photograph of iron powder (a). Microstructure of as-sintered (b)
pure iron P/M perform, (c) P/M 0.4% carbon steel, and (d) P/M 0.8% carbon steel.

Fig. 2. Upset forging test preforms before and after deformation.

508 R. Narayanasamy et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511

3. Theoretical discussion The strain hardening index value (n) was determined employing
the conventional Ludwik’s equation [9]:
Using the measured upsetting inputs the other parameters
 = Kεn (11)
under triaxial stress state condition are determined by using the
following expressions. where ˛ is the true effective stress, K is the strength coefficient and
ε is the true effective strain.
3.1. Stress It is assumed that the consecutive compressive loads were spec-
ified as 1, 2, 3, . . ., (i − 1), i. Now Eq. (11) can be rewritten as:
The state of stress in a triaxial stress condition is given by
Narayanasamy et al. [18] as follows: (i−1) = K[ε(i−1) ]n (12)
n
(2 + R2 ) − R2 (z + 2 ) i = K[εi ] (13)
˛= (1)
(2 + R2 )z − R2 (z + 2 ) Now by dividing Eq. (13) by Eq. (12) the following expression can
From the above equation (1), for the known values of Poisson’s be obtained:
ratio (˛), relative density (R) and axial stress ( z ), the hoop stress  n
i εi
component (  ) can be determined as given below: = (14)
  (i−1) ε(i−1)
2˛ + R2
 = z (2) Taking natural logarithms on both sides of Eq. (14):
2 − R2 + 2R2 ˛    
i εi
In the above equation (2), the relative density (R) plays a major role ln = n ln (15)
(i−1) ε(i−1)
in finding the hoop stress component (  ).
The hydrostatic stress is given by: and the instantaneous strain hardening index (ni ) can be obtained
r +  + z as:
m = (3)
3 ln(i /(i−1) )
ni = (16)
Since  r =   (for axisymmetric upset forging condition), in case ln(εi /ε(i−1) )
of triaxial stress condition, the above equation can be stated as
follows: Using Eq. (16), the instantaneous strain hardening index (ni ) can
be determined. Further, it makes it feasible to evaluate the strain-
z + 2
m = (4) hardening parameters for triaxial stress state conditions.
3
Subtracting Eq. (12) from Eq. (13) the following expression can
The effective stress can be determined from the following expres- be obtained:
sion in terms of cylindrical coordinates as explained elsewhere [9].
i − (i−1) = K[(εi )n − (ε(i−1) )n ] (17)
2
z2 + 2 + r2 − R2 (z  +  r + r z )
eff = (5) Eq. (17) can further be rearranged as:
2R2 − 1
i − (i−1)
Since   =  r (for axisymmetric upset forging condition): Ki = (18)
(εi )n − (ε(i−1) )n
2
z2 + 22 − R2 (z  + 2 + z  )
eff = (6) From the above equation (18), the instantaneous strength coeffi-
2R2 − 1
cient (Ki ) can be determined.
Eq. (6) can be rearranged as below for the determination of the
effective stress,  eff :
4. Results and discussion
 1/2
z2 + 22 − R2 (2 + 2z  )
eff = (7) Fig. 3(a) and (b) has been plotted between the axial stress ( z )
2R2 − 1
and the axial strain (εz ) for preforms containing different carbon
percentage with initial preform relative density of 84% for two dif-
3.2. Strain
ferent aspect ratios namely 0.39 and 0.59. It has been observed that
the axial stress ( z ) increases with increasing amount of the axial
The axial true strain (εz ) is expressed as given below:
strain (εz ). For any given true axial strain (εz ), the axial stress ( z )
h  has been found to be the highest for 0.8% carbon steel and the low-
0
εz = ln (8)
hf est for pure iron. For the case of 0.4% carbon steel, the axial stress
( z ) is in between 0.8% carbon steel and pure iron. The relationship
The hoop strain (ε ) can be determined by the following expression
between the axial stress ( z ) and the axial strain (εz ) follows the
as described elsewhere [19].
  Ludwik’s equation namely  = Kεn , where  is the true axial stress,
2DB2 + DC2 ε is the true axial strain and K and n are constants. The above trend
ε = ln (9)
3D02 has been observed irrespective of the aspect ratio. For the case of
aspect ratio 0.59, the axial stress ( z ) has been found to be higher
Since the radial strain (εr ) = ε (for axisymmetric upset forging con- than that of the aspect ratio 0.39. As shown in Fig. 3(a), the flow
dition) in case of triaxial stress state condition, the effective strain stress is maximum in the case of iron with 0.8% carbon steel irre-
is given by the following expression as described elsewhere [20]: spective of the aspect ratios tested. The reason is that in the case
 2
 of 0.8% carbon steel the pores were observed to be fine as shown
εeff = [(εz − ε )2 + (ε − εz )2 ] in Fig. 1(d). When fine pores are present the flow stress required
3(2 + R)
  0.5 is always higher because higher load is required for further plas-
(εz + 2ε )2 tic deformation. Whereas in the case of pure iron the flow stress
+ [1 − R2 ] (10)
3 required is very less for further plastic deformation because of the
 R. Narayanasamy et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511 509

presence of bigger size pores as shown in Fig. 1(b). When bigger size
pores are present as in the case of pure iron the flow stress required
is always less. The behaviour of 0.4% carbon steel is in between 0.8%
carbon steel and pure iron.
Fig. 4(a) and (b) has been plotted between the instantaneous
strain hardening index value (ni ) and the relative density (R) for
preforms containing different carbon percentage with initial pre-
form relative density of 84% for two different aspect ratios namely
0.39 and 0.59. As shown in Fig. 4(a), for the case of pure iron the
instantaneous strain hardening index value (ni ) decreases rapidly
with increasing relative density (R). Whereas in the case of 0.4% and
0.8% carbon steels the instantaneous strain hardening index value
(ni ) increases with increasing amount of the relative density (R). In
the case of pure iron during plastic deformation, the bonds among
some particle are broken and particles become very loose because
of more void volume fraction. Because of this reason strain soften-
ing takes place. Therefore, the instantaneous strain hardening index
value (ni ) decreases with increasing amount of the relative density
(R). Whereas in the case of 0.4% and 0.8% carbon steels the pores are
getting closed and therefore geometric work hardening takes place.
Since the matrix is a combination of pearlite and ferrite in the case
of 0.4% and 0.8% carbon steels, rapid and higher matrix work hard-
ening takes place. Because of this reason the instantaneous strain
hardening index value (ni ) continuously increases with increasing

Fig. 3. The variation of the axial stress ( z ) with respect to the axial strain (εz ) for
aspect ratio (a) 0.39 and (b) 0.59. Fig. 4. The variation of the instantaneous strain hardening index (ni ) with respect
to the relative density (R) for aspect ratio (a) 0.39 and (b) 0.59.
510 R. Narayanasamy et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511

Fig. 5(a) and (b) has been plotted between the instantaneous
strain hardening index value (ni ) and the axial strain (εz ) for pre-
forms containing different carbon percentage with initial preform
relative density of 84% for two different aspect ratios namely 0.39
and 0.59. The strain-hardening behaviour of pure iron, 0.4% car-
bon steel and 0.8% carbon steel is same as discussed earlier. As
shown in Fig. 5(b), the rate of change of the instantaneous strain
hardening index value (ni ) with respect to the axial strain (εz ) is
almost the same for both steels namely 0.4% and 0.8% carbon. The
strain-hardening behaviour of pure iron and carbon steels is same
as discussed earlier.
Fig. 6(a) and (b) has been plotted between the instantaneous
strength coefficient (Ki ) and the relative density (R) for preforms
containing different carbon percentage with initial preform relative
density of 84% for two different aspect ratios namely 0.39 and 0.59.
It has been observed that in the case of pure iron the instantaneous
strength coefficient (Ki ) value rapidly decreases with increasing rel-
ative density (R) because of strain softening. Whereas in the case
of 0.4% and 0.8% carbon steels the instantaneous strength coeffi-
cient (Ki ) value is almost constant because of both matrix work
hardening and geometric work hardening. The rate of change of
decrease in the instantaneous strength coefficient (Ki ) value with
respect to the relative density (R) is almost same for both 0.4% and
0.8% carbon steel. As shown in Fig. 6(b), the instantaneous strength
coefficient (Ki ) value decreases slowly with increasing relative den-
sity (R) compared to previous aspect ratio in the case of pure iron.
The reason is that both matrix and geometric work hardening
takes place during deformation. As the carbon content increases
the rate of change of the instantaneous strength coefficient (Ki )

Fig. 5. The variation of the instantaneous strain hardening index (ni ) with respect
to the axial strain (εz ) for aspect ratio (a) 0.39 and (b) 0.59.

amount of the relative density (R). Therefore, the work-hardening

behaviour of carbon steel is entirely different from pure iron. As
shown in Fig. 4(b), for the case of aspect ratio 0.59, the instanta-
neous strain hardening index value (ni ) for the case of pure iron
steadily increases with increasing amount of the relative density (R)
and then reaches a saturation limit. The reason is that both matrix
work hardening and some amount of geometric work hardening
takes place during the early stage and then matrix work hardening
value decreases with increasing amount of the relative density (R).
As the relative density (R) increases to higher value more amount of
geometric work hardening takes place. Because of this reason there
is increase in the relative density (R) value. However, there is no
increase in the instantaneous strain hardening index value (ni ) sub-
stantially for the case of pure iron. Whereas for the case of 0.4% and
0.8% carbon steel, both matrix work hardening and geometric work
hardening take place during plastic deformation. Since the matrix
is a combination of ferrite and pearlite more amount of matrix
work hardening takes place and the instantaneous strain hardening
index value (ni ) increases to higher value. The instantaneous strain
hardening index value (ni ) increases because of both matrix work
hardening and geometric work hardening. The increasing value of
geometric work hardening is due to closing of very fine pores in the Fig. 6. The variation of the instantaneous strength coefficient (Ki ) with respect to
case of carbon steels. the relative density (R) for aspect ratio (a) 0.39 and (b) 0.59.
 R. Narayanasamy et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 497 (2008) 505–511
value with respect to the relative density (R) differs from pure iron.
The reason is that both more amount of matrix work hardening and
geometric work hardening take place during plastic deformation.
In the case of carbon steels more amount of plastic deformation is
observed compared to pure iron.
5. Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn from Section 4:
• As the carbon content increases the pore size becomes smaller.
• As the pore size becomes smaller, the load requirement and the
stress required for plastic deformation increases like in the case
of carbon steels compared to pure iron. Because of fine pores as
in the case of carbon steels, the geometric work hardening value
increases with increasing amount of plastic deformation.
• The instantaneous strain hardening index value (ni ) increases
very high in the case of carbon steels because of both matrix and
geometric work hardening compared to pure iron.
• In the case of pure iron the instantaneous strain hardening index
value (ni ) decreases rapidly with increasing amount of deforma-
tion because of strain softening.
• The instantaneous strength coefficient (Ki ) decreases rapidly with
increasing deformation in the case of pure iron whereas in the
case carbon steel the instantaneous strength coefficient (Ki ) is
almost constant because of geometric work hardening and matrix
work hardening.
511
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