Abstract
The effect of tempering temperature on the three point bending fatigue behavior of a P/M high speed steel JYPS-23 (1.28% C, 4.20% Cr, 6.40% W, 5.00% Mo, 3.10% V, bal. Fe) was investigated. The number of cycles to failure of the specimen austenitized at $1175^{\circ}C$ drastically increased with increasing tempering temperature. As tempering temperature increased from 500 to $620^{\circ}C$, the volume fraction and average size of carbides (MC or M6C) did not significantly changed, while hardness decreased drastically. The reduced hardness is due to the softening of matrix, which increased the resistance of the fatigue crack propagation. For a practical application, powder compacting test were also conducted with the P/M high speed steel punches tempered at 500, 580, and $620^{\circ}C$. The number of compacting cycles to failure of the punches also increased with increasing tempering temperature.
