Resumen:
Despite the high oxygen sensitivity of manganese, its attractiveness as an alloying element in powder metallurgy steels is mainly cost but also accompanied with performance. Manganese is still scarcely used in industry, but research over many years has led to the development of manganese steels as lean alternatives for nickel- and copper-steels. Based on adding manganese in prealloyed form, or through a specially designed master alloy, the differences in microstructure, tensile strength, and hardness after sintering are discussed in terms of the overall chemical composition and alloying method. A detailed study of microstructural evolution is presented, based on interrupted sintering experiments from temperatures associated with the changes observed in the corresponding dilatometry traces.
