Search Results

The change from gasoline to alternate fuels such as those based on methanol, is expected to create material compatibility problems because of the enhanced reactivity of the powder metal (P/M) materials currently in use. These problems are most serious for the steels containing copper or those that have been copper infiltrated. P/M austenitic stainless steels offer the possibility of overcoming the inherent corrosion problems of the current P/M alloys. Test samples of 304L and 316L were processed on production equipment and sintered in pure hydrogen or a simulated dissociated ammonia mixture. Corrosion testing was performed in SAE-approved mixtures of “aggressive methanol” and gasoline (termed CM15A and CM85A). To accelerate the corrosion test and simulate an auto-oxidized fuel mixture, a small amount of t-Butyl Hydroperoxide was added. These preliminary tests confirm that Fe-0.8 %C and Fe-2% Cu-0.8%C steels will rust in these test fuels, within 24 hours.