Research on application of silicon in iron-copper alloy powder production by atomization process

Fe-Cu40 alloy powder is prepared by the water-atomization method.The property of Fe-Cu40 powder is compared at different dosages of ferrosilicon.Accordingly,the effect of ferrosilicon dosage on the powder property is clarified.The results show that excellent deoxidation efficiency is obtained when ferrosilicon is used in the water-atomization process for the production of Fe-Cu40 alloy powder.When the mass fraction of Si in the ferrosilicon is below 1.5%,the oxygen content in the semi-finished product can be reduced greatly,therefore decreasing the oxygen content of final product.But the dosage of ferrosilicon should be reduced when producing the powder of high hardness and bending strength.