CHRONICLES

P.

G. S O B O L E V S K I I

INTERNATIONAL

SYMPOSIUM

ON P O W D E R

METALLURGY

I . M. F e d o r c h e n k o , I . D. R a d o m y s e l ' s k i i , and O. V. E v t u s h e n k o

A P. G. Sobolevskii International Symposium on Powder Metallurgy, organized by the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (Institute of Materials Science) in association with the Scientific Council for Powder Metallurgy of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Science and Technology, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Central B o a r d of the Scientific-Technical Department for the Machine Industry, and the Ministry of F e r r o u s Metallurgy of the USSR, took place in Kiev on May 11-13, 1977. It was held to m a r k the 150th a n n i v e r s a r y of the publication, by the Russian scientist P. G. Sobolevskii, of the world's f i r s t work on the p r o c e s s i n g of m a t e r i a l s by powder m e t a l l u r g y techniques, which laid the foundations for the methods used today in this field of science and technology [P. G. Sobolevskii, "The refining and working of native platinum," Gornyi Zhurnal, 4, 84-109 (1827)]. The symposium was attended by some 800 scientific workers, l e c t u r e r s from seats of higher learning, and engineers (450 official participants and about 350 guests). The 52 participants from abroad - Austria, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, India, Poland, Rumania, the United States, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Yugoslavia, and J a p a n - r e p r e s e n t e d 35 scientific organizations and e n t e r p r i s e s in their countries. The Soviet participants were r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of 280 organizations and concerns of various m i n i s t r i e s and departments f r o m 70 towns in the Soviet Union. Numerically, the m o s t strongly r e p r e s e n t e d were Moscow and the Moscow district (105 participants), Kiev and the Kiev district (45 participants) and Leningrad and the Leningrad district (28 participants). Among those taking p a r t in the proceedings were specialists from 15 government departments, 7 design institutes, 27 Academy of Sciences s c i e n t i f i c - r e s e a r c h insitutes, 86 s c i e n t i f i c - r e s e a r c h institutes of various industries, 50 engineering factories, 14 metallurgical plants, 12 indust r i a l associations, 9 councils of scientific-technical departments for various industries, and 2 scientific cent e r s . The symposium was also attended by w o r k e r s from 41 Soviet seats of higher learning. In opening the symposium, the Chairman of the Organizin~ Committee and V i c e - P r e s i d e n t of the Acade m y of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Academician V. I. T r e f i l o v * noted that powder metallurgy plays a leading p a r t in modern science and technology. Powder metallurgy techniques are being used to formulate new m a t e r i a l s with unique combinations of p r o p e r t i e s and to produce p a r t s at low cost and with little waste. Because of this, these techniques a r e finding increasing application in m o s t of the developed countries. All participants and guests were welcomed by the Chairman of the Executive Committee, the Kiev City Council of W o r k e r s ' Deputies, V. A. Gusev. Of the papers presented to the symposium, 36 dealt with the current state of powder metallurgy in individual countries, advances in r e s e a r c h e s into the theoretical principles of powder metallurgy, and developments in the field of production of new m a t e r i a l s for various applications. The life and work of the founder of modern powder m e t a l l u r g y , P. G. Sobolevskii, were the subject of the paper by I. N. Frantsevich and S. Ya. Plotkin (USSR), who pointed out that p r e s e n t - d a y investigations into the theory and practice of hot p r e s s i n g in its various modifications are a continuation of P. G. Sobolevskii's work on the hot p r e s s i n g of powders.

* Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. Translated f r o m Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 8(176), pp. 102-104, August, 1977.
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The paper by I. M. Fedorchenko (USSR) dealt with the p r o g r e s s being made in s c i e n t i f i c - r e s e a r c h work and the growth of the powder m e t a l l u r g y industry in the Soviet Union. Developments in the field of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Bulgaria in the past 15 y e a r s were outlined in the paper by R. P. Todorov (Bulgaria). Some achievements of Great B r i t a i n ' s powder m e t a l l u r g y industry, in p a r t i c u l a r those methods of production of high-density p a r t s and manufacture of articles f r o m metal scrap, were described in the paper by R. Davies. Analyses of the development of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Hungary, the United States, and F r a n c e were given in the papers by O. Szilagy (Hungary), K. Roll (USA), and M. Eudier (France), which were not read to the s y m posium, but were published in a collection under the title Powder Metallurgy-77 [Nauk. Dumka, Kiev (1977), 190 pp.]. The paper by T. Bruggemann, I. Rupprecht, and K. Gunther examined the p r e s e n t state of production of iron powder, sintered constructional p a r t s , and electrode strip in the G e r m a n D e m o c r a t i c Republic. The authors showed that the output of powder m e t a l l u r g y products in the German D e m o c r a t i c Republic is growing as a r e s u l t of i n c r e a s e in the production of constructional components and sintered sliding bearings, use of new methods, and manufacture of new m a t e r i a l s and a r t i c l e s . The growth in scientific r e s e a r c h and industrial production in the field of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Poland was the subject of the paper by W. Rutkowski, who r e p o r t e d that in Poland investigations are being c a r r i e d out into the manufacture of powders and m a t e r i a l s for the e l e c t r i c a l , engineering, atomic, and other industries. The past, present, and future of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Rumania were considered in the paper by V. t~icolai and A. Palfalvi. In his paper on the state of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Yugoslavia, M. M. Ristic noted that Yugoslav s c i e n t i s t s ' investigations in the field of sintering t h e o r y have made a valuable contribution to the development of powder m e t a l l u r g y in their country. He also cited figures relating to the industrial output of hard alloys, hard alloy tools, iron and n o n f e r r o u s metal powders, and various powder m e t a l l u r g y p a r t s . The paper by M. P e t r d l i k (Czechoslovakia) gave an analysis of r e s u l t s of scientific investigations and of the organization of industrial production of hard alloys, superhard m a t e r i a l s based on iron and nonferrous m e t a l powders, as well as Of p a r t s for various applications made of these m a t e r i a l s . The development of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Sweden was examined in the paper by K. Isterl[ng, who p r e sented an analysis of the state of r e s e a r c h work on the manufacture of sintered steel, carbide, and oxide c o m ponents. The h i s t o r y of powder m e t a l l u r g y in Japan, organizations concerned with powder m e t a l l u r g y problems, and c u r r e n t trends in powder m e t a l l u r g y technology, with data on the output of ttmgsten powder, hard alloys, sintered p a r t s , electrical[ contacts, and magnetic m a t e r i a l s for the past 20 y e a r s , were dealt with in the paper by T. Kawakita. The p r o b l e m s facing powder m e t a l l u r g y and the p r o s p e c t s for it in the developing countries were considered in the paper by G. Upadhaya (India). H. Seheinberg (USA) gave an account of powder m e t a l l u r g y investigations in the Los Alamos laboratory. In the paper by I. D. R a d o m y s e l ' s k i i , which was devoted to investigations in the field of manufacture of m e t a l powders in the USSR, were given a classification of powder production methods, h i s t o r i c a l information on powder manufacture technology, a review of r e s e a r c h e s into the t h e o r y and technology of powder manufacture in the USSR by various techniques, and brief c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of manufacturing p r o c e s s e s . In his paper, M. Yu. B a l ' s h i n (USSR) examined the t h e o r e t i c a l principles of the production p r o c e s s e s used in powder m e t a l l u r g y . In the paper by O. V. Roman (USSR) an analysis was made of trends in the development of metal powder shaping p r o c e s s e s , and it was pointed out that future p r o g r e s s in powder m e t a l l u r g y will depend to a large extent on p r o g r e s s in the development and adoption of new p r o c e s s e s . G. A. Vinogradov and G. G. Serdyuk (USSR) showed that G. P. Sobolevskii's novel ideas provided a basis for extensive investigations by Soviet scientists in the field of p r e s s i n g and rolling and ultimately led to the appearance of a new type of industrial powder m e t a l l u r g y product, namely strip rolled from powders.
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The p a p e r by M. S. Koval'chenko (USSR) contained a b r i e f h i s t o r i c a l account of the development of hot p r e s s i n g of m e t a l , alloy, and compound powders f r o m the t i m e of P. G. Sobolevskii's d i s c o v e r y to date and an analysis of the m o r e i m p o r t a n t r e s e a r c h and development works on methods for the hot plastic working of porous m a t e r i a l s , which today a r e being i n c r e a s i n g l y used for the production of p a r t s with a f i n e - g r a i n e d s t r u c t u r e and good p h y s i c o m e e h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s . A r e v i e w , c o v e r i n g the l a s t 20 y e a r s , of methods of hot i s o s t a t i c p r e s s i n g (HIP) and d e s c r i p t i o n s of t y p i c a l designs of m a c h i n e s for HIP and of p r o c e d u r e s employed for the production of various m a t e r i a l s by the H I P p r o c e s s w e r e given in the p a p e r by H. F i s h m e i s t e r (Austria). New e x p e r i m e n t a l and t h e o r e t i c a l investigations into the sintering physics of c r y s t a l l i n e solids w e r e r e viewed in the p a p e r by Ya. E. Gegnzin (USSI1). Methods of m a n u f a c t u r e and p r o p e r t i e s of p a r t s f r o m iron powders designed for g e n e r a l engineering and i n s t r u m e n t applications w e r e examined in the p a p e r by V. N. Klimenko (USSR). New e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s i l l u s t r a t i n g the effect of c r y s t a l s t r u c t u r e defects upon the strength and ductility p r o p e r t i e s of r e f r a c t o r y m e t a l s w e r e r e p o r t e d and d i s c u s s e d in the p a p e r by V. I. Trefilov (USSR). In his paper, V. V. Skorokhod (USSR) examined t h e o r e t i c a l and e x p e r i m e n t a l investigations into the d e pendence of v a r i o u s p h y s i c o m e e h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of porous m a t e r i a l s on p o r o s i t y and analyzed a n u m b e r of a p p r o a c h e s to the construction of calculated c u r v e s of p r o p e r t i e s of m a t e r i a l s as functions of p o r o s i t y . The subject of the p a p e r by Yu. G. Dorofeev (USSR) was the p r e s e n t state of investigation and m a n u f a c t u r e of m a t e r i a l s produced by forging porous blanks and the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s of hot forging as a method of producing dense p a r t s f r o m p o w d e r s . In the p a p e r by P. S. Kislyi (USStt) it was d e m o n s t r a t e d that p r o g r e s s in m a n y new b r a n c h e s of technology depends on extensive use of r e f r a c t o r y compounds. A b r o a d s p e c t r u m of single- and h e t e r o p h a s e m a t e r i a l s , c e r m e t s , and r e i n f o r c e d and d i s p e r s i o n - h a r d e n e d m a t e r i a l s has a l r e a d y been f o r m u l a t e d on the basis of r e f r a c t o r y compounds. The author c o n s i d e r e d the t h e o r e t i c a l and technological p r i n c i p l e s of development of these m a t e r i a l s . In addition, he r e v i e w e d methods of p r e p a r a t i o n of r e f r a c t o r y compound powders and methods of production of p a r t s f r o m such p o w d e r s . P a r t i c u l a r attention was given in the p a p e r to various aspects of activated s i n t e r i n g of r e f r a c t o r y compounds. The p a p e r by It. Machenschalk (Austria) was devoted to a c h i e v e m e n t s in the field of application of r e f r a c t o r y m e t a l s and to the development of new m a t e r i a l s based on r e f r a c t o r y m e t a l s and compounds. L. I. Klyachko (USSR) p r e s e n t e d a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of hard alloys and examined the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and u s e s of v a r i o u s industrial g r a d e s of h a r d alloys. A. Mertz (German D e m o c r a t i c Republic) devoted his p a p e r to an analysts of investigations into the m a n u f a c t u r e of r e f r a c t o r y m e t a l s and compounds and of the c o r r e l a t i o n between the p r o p e r t i e s of r e f r a c t o r y h a r d compounds and those of m a t e r i a l s based on t h e m . Investigations into the production of c o m p o s i t e s i n t e r e d m a t e r i a l s , the p r i n c i p l e s of formulation of these m a t e r i a l s , t h e i r p r o p e r t i e s , and ways of i m p r o v i n g the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of composite m a t e r i a l s w e r e c o n s i d e r e d in detail in the p a p e r by D. M. Karpinos (USSIt). In his p a p e r , N. G r a n t (USA) analyzed the c u r r e n t state of r e s e a r c h into the formulation of d i s p e r s i o n hardened alloys, d e s c r i b e d new methods of production of t h e s e alloys, and considered the advantages of t h e r m o m e e h a n i c a l t r e a t m e n t andthe m e c h a n i s m of d i s p e r s i o n hardening. I m p o r t a n t investigations in the field of formulation of d i s p e r s i o n - h a r d e n e d m e t a l alloys, the p r i n c i p l e s of selection of hardening p h a s e s , methods of m a n u f a c t u r e of s e m i f i n i s h e d products, and the s t r a i n and heat t r e a t m e n t s and p r o p e r t i e s of d i s p e r s i o n - h a r d e n e d m a t e r i a l s w e r e the subject of the p a p e r p r e s e n t e d by K. I. Portnoi and B. N. Babich (USSI1). At the closing s e s s i o n of the s y m p o s i u m the r e s u l t s w e r e announced of the P. G. Sobolevskii P r i z e c o m petition, andthe w i n n e r s w e r e p r e s e n t e d w i t h diplomas and c e r t i f i c a t e s of honor of the Central Board of the S c i e n t i f i c - T e c h n i c a l D e p a r t m e n t for the Machine Industry. P a r t i c i p a n t s noted with s a t i s f a c t i o n the efficient organization of the s y m p o s i u m .

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During the s y m p o s i u m , in the s a m e building, two exhibitions w e r e staged, one of P. G. Sobolevskii's collected published w o r k s and of platinum m e d a l s m a d e by S o b o l e v s k i i ' s p r o c e s s and the other of powder m e t a l l u r g y a r t i c l e s being produced in the USSR. Contributions to the latter exhibition had c o m e f r o m m o r e than 20 Soviet o r g a n i z a t i o n s , including the B r o v a r y Powder Metallurgy F a c t o r y , the Volga Automobile F a c t o r y , the Vyksunsk I r o n and Steel Plant, the D n e p r o v s k H a r d Alloys Plant, the L e n i n g r a d I n s t r u m e n t F a c t o r y , the Riga E l e c t r i c a l Machine F a c t o r y , the Institute of M a t e r i a l s Science (Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR), and the S c i e n t i f i c - R e s e a r c h Institute of Powder Metallurgy (Belorussian Polytechnic Institute, of Minsk). The exhibition was a d e m o n s t r a t i o n of advances that have been made in the USSR in the m a n u f a c t u r e of n o n f e r r o u s m e t a l and alloy s t e e l powders, explosive powder shaping technology, and p r e s s i n g and sintering in f u r n a c e s with a controlled a t m o s p h e r e . Powder m e t a l l u r g y products used in v a r i o u s branches of e n g i n e e r ing w e r e shown, including tool m a t e r i a l s , f r i c t i o n a l and b e a r i n g m a t e r i a l s , f i l t e r s , soft magnetic m a t e r i a l s , e l e c t r i c a l and c o n s t r u c t i o n a l components, and p a r t s m a d e of r e f r a c t o r y compounds. C o n s i d e r a b l e i n t e r e s t in the exhibition was shown by p a r t i c i p a n t s f r o m both the Soviet Union and other c o u n t r i e s . The s y m p o s i u m and the exhibition p o r t r a y e d the l e v e l of development of powder m e t a l l u r g y in the USSR and abroad and r e v e a l e d the m a i n tendencies which a r e likely to c h a r a c t e r i z e f u r t h e r scientific r e s e a r c h e s and technology and plant d e v e l o p m e n t s .

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