Powder metallurgy of stainless steels and composites: a review of mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

Although SPS has been studied for a rapidly growing number of materials, there is limited number of researches on the fabrication and microstructural characterization of stainless steels processed by SPS. This article reviewed and provided a critical discussion on the mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) of dispersion-strengthened stainless steel with emphasis on process parameters, reinforcement efficiencies, microstructural evolutions, and mechanical properties. The influence of spark plasma sintering process parameters on microstructure, phase evolution, and mechanical properties of reinforced stainless steels is reviewed in this work. The role of alloying elements and ceramic reinforcements, their dispersion into the stainless steel matrix, and the importance of matrix-reinforcement interface are highlighted. Current and potential areas of applications of PM stainless steel and suggestions for future research are discussed in this paper.