Mechanical properties of Fe-Cu alloys sintered by using atomized and carbonyl iron powders plated with copper were studied. The sintered alloys with atomized iron powder showed higher tensile strength and elongation than those of sintered alloys with mixed powder. The sintered alloys with carbonyl iron powder showed the tensile strength of the same levels as the Fe-Cu wrought materials of identical composition, and the elongation of two times larger than that of the wrought alloys. Furthermore, the tensile strength and the elongation of these alloys can be altered in wide range by heat treatments after sintering, that is, quenching and aging.
These sintered alloys have the nonequilibrium microstructure consisted of two regions, that is, higher and lower copper content regions. The former is the intergranular region in the case of atomized iron powder, and the region around pore in the case of carbonyl iron powder. The latter is the central portion of large iron particles in the case of atomized powder, and the matrix region in the case of carbonyl powder. This nonequilibrium structure in the Fe-Cu alloys sintered with plated powder gives rise to the high tensile strength and the large ductility.