In powder metallurgy the addition of alloying elements is a widely used alternative to increase the service life of mechanical components. However, they have an associated cost. One less exploited process is surface enrichment (or surface alloying), whose same result is obtained on the surface, but at a much lower cost. Self-lubricating composites are especially complex to be enriched, precisely because they have to avoid the deposition of alloying elements over the lubricant stocks. This paper reports the characterization and tribological properties of self-lubricating composites enriched with molybdenum or nickel. Sintered samples were produced for comparative purposes. Wear resistance, friction coefficient and wear rate were analyzed for the evaluation of tribological properties. The results showed that the enrichment process did not cover the lubricant stocks. In addition, the Mo-enriched samples presented the best tribological results, with a 250 % increase in scuffing resistance in relation the sintered sample, and lower wear rate.

Flat sintered copper and copper-zirconia substrates, with zirconia nanoparticles contents of 1 and 3 vol%, were produced by aqueous tape casting and controlled sintering. Aqueous suspensions were prepared to a solid content of 58 vol% using 3 wt% commercial binder emulsion. The green tapes were treated at 350 ºC in air to remove organics and sintered at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1000 ºC in atmosphere of Ar/5%H2. Copper tapes reached almost full densification at 900 ºC. Composite with 1 vol% zirconia, sintered at 800 ºC, maintained high density and provided a noticeable increase of the mechanical strength, whereas further additions up to 3 vol% reduced the densification and the resulting mechanical performance became poorer.

The present work is focused on ferrous powder metallurgy and presents some results of a development of a suitable masteralloy for use as an additive to iron powder for the production of sintered steels. The masteralloy was produced by melting a powder mixture containing approximately Fe + 20% Ni + 20% Mn + 20% Si + 1% C (wt%), in order to obtain a cast billet that was converted into fine powder by crushing and milling. It was observed presence of SiC in the masteralloy after melting that is undesirable in the alloy. Si element should be introduced by using ferrosilicon. Sintered alloys with distinct contents of alloying elements were prepared by mixing the masteralloy powder to plain iron powder. Samples were produced by die compaction of the powder mixtures and sintering at 1200 °C in a differential dilatometer in order to record their linear dimensional behaviour during heating up and isothermal sintering, aiming at studying the sinterability of the compacts. Microstructure development during sintering was studied by SEM, XRD and microprobe analyses.