What is the difference between iron-based powder metallurgy materials and copper-based powder metallurgy materials?

Powder metallurgy structural materials are divided into iron-based and copper-based materials depending on the base metal. Iron-based materials are divided into sintered iron, sintered low carbon steel, sintered medium carbon steel and sintered high carbon steel according to the amount of carbon chemistry, and if the iron-based materials contain alloying elements copper and molybdenum are called sintered copper steel and sintered copper-molybdenum steel.

Iron-based structural materials made of structural parts with high accuracy, small surface roughness values, no or only a small amount of cutting, material savings, high productivity, porous products, can be dipped in lubricant, can reduce friction, vibration, muffling. Iron-based powder metallurgy structural materials are widely used in the manufacture of mechanical parts, such as adjustment washers, adjustment rings, end caps, sliders, bases, eccentric wheels on machine tools, oil pump gears, differential gears, thrust rings in automobiles, transmission gears, piston rings on tractors, as well as joints, spacers, nuts, oil pump rotors, retaining sleeves, rollers, etc.

Compared with iron-based structural materials, copper-based materials have low tensile strength, high plasticity and toughness, good electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance, and can be plated and coated, and are commonly used in the manufacture of small volume, complex shape, high dimensional accuracy, smaller force instrument parts and electrical and mechanical product parts, such as small modulus gears, cams, fasteners, valves, pins, sleeves and other structural parts.