Effect of cooling rate on structural and electromagnetic properties of high-carbon ferrochrome powders

The structural and electromagnetic properties of high-carbon ferrochrome powders (HCFCP) obtained at different cooling rates were respectively investigated by means of optical microscope, X-ray diffractometer, electron probe as well as the vector network analyzer in the frequency range of 1-18 GHz. The results show that the cell structure of main phase, (Cr,Fe)(7)C-3, transforms from hexagonal to orthogonal with the improvement of cooling rate. Meanwhile the mass ratio of Cr to Fe in (Cr,Fe)(7)C-3 gradually declines, while that for CrFe goes up. Both the real part and the imaginary part of relative complex permittivity of HCFCP are in an increasing order with cooling rate rising in most frequencies. For comparison, the relative complex permeability presents an opposite changing tendency. The peaks of the imaginary part of relative complex permeability appearing in low and high frequencies are attributed to nature resonance. The reflection loss of HCFCP gradually decreases as cooling rate reduces and frequency enhances. At 2.45 GHz, the algebraic sum of dielectric loss factor and magnetic loss factor increases first and then decreases in the temperature extent from 298 K to 1273 K. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.