Factor analysis of iron-phosphorus PM steel

Alloy design and choice of process parameters are often tasks where different investigations lead in different directions and the process of selecting the best parameter settings is difficult. Multivariate statistics are capable of bringing order in such situations, and here data from four different investigations on the Fe-P-C system are collected and evaluated. Effects of chemical composition, compaction pressure, sintering time, and sintering temperature on properties including density, tensile strength, impact energy, proof stress, and elongation are studied. The investigation is based on principal factor analysis. Dimensional reduction is presented and discussed. The study cornpares the different investigations and the results for the Fe-P-C system show how different properties interact.