D2 and primary carbides

[DocNightfall]

Great info! Thanks!

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Was this loosely alleged due to less than 100% density, or some other cause of voids?

Yes, the powder is not compressed perfectly. Again though, I have never seen this well supported with actual facts and the materials tests by Crucible and the general refernences in materials books will show at least as high toughness which would not be the case if it was influenced by voids. There has been some propogation of this by the ultra-brittle failure of some S30V blades, but this is just a case of a high carbide steel not a P/M steel. Try testing the toughness of the P/M version of 12C27 for example.

-Cliff