Fe-based sintered alloy and manufacturing method thereof

1. A method of manufacturing an Fe-based sintered alloy, comprising:

a raw powder material mixing step of mixing Fe—Mo alloy powder consisting essentially of Mo and the balance of Fe plus unavoidable impurities, Fe—Mn—Si alloy powder consisting essentially of Mn, Si and the balance of Fe plus unavoidable impurities, at least one selected from the group consisting of copper powder, Cu—Mn alloy powder having a liquidus-line temperature of 1120° C. or less and Fe—Cu—Mn alloy powder having a liquidus-line temperature of 1120° C. or less, and graphite powder to blend a raw powder material, in percentage by mass, consisting of, Mn: 0.5 to 2.0, Mo: 0.3 to 1.6, Cu: 0.4 to 1.5, C: 0.4 to 0.7, Si: 0.11 to 0.65, and the balance of Fe plus unavoidable impurities;

a compacting step of compressing and compacting the raw powder material obtained in the raw powder material mixing step in a die; and

a sintering step of sintering a green compact obtained in the compacting step within a temperature range of 1120 to 1200° C. under non-oxidation atmosphere and then cooling the thus obtained sintered body from the sintering temperature to a temperature of 100° C. or less, the sintered body being cooled from 900° C. to 200° C. at an average cooling rate within a range of 10 to 60° C./minute,

wherein a content of Mn of the Fe—Mn—Si alloy powder is set within a range of 60 to 90 mass % thereof, and

wherein an average diameter of the Fe—Mn—Si alloy powder is set within a range of 45 μm or less.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the Fe—Mn—Si alloy powder contains 30 mass % or less of Si.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein in the cooling process after the sintering process, the sintered body is heated and kept within a temperature range of 150 to 300° C. after the sintered body is cooled to the temperature of 100° C. or less, or the sintered body is kept within a temperature range of 150 to 300° C. before the sintered body is cooled to the temperature of 100° C. or less.

4. The manufacturing method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein copper powder is mixed during the a raw powder material mixing step.

5. The manufacturing method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the Fe-based sintered alloy has a tensile strength of 700 MPa or more, and a Charpy impact value of 17 J/cm 2 or more.

6. The manufacturing method as set forth in claim 1 ,

wherein the Fe—Mn—Si alloy powder contains 5.00 mass % or more and 16.50 mass % or less of Si.