In the new millennium a trend focused on making improvements in existing technologies of powder metallurgy and on the development of new and promising trends in the creation of powder structural materials is observed. The development of the technology of powder metallurgy is intended to improve methods of warm and injection molding, laser and mechanical alloying, and nitration of high-and lowalloy steels. Considerable attention has been paid to the production of structural materials made of intermetallic compounds, materials, the properties of which exhibit functional gradients. There has also been emphasis on creating nanomaterials fabricated by the sol-gel method, mechanical alloying, and powder spraying.Despite a marked drop in the 1990s, powder metallurgy in the member countries of the Community of Independent States, in particular, Ukraine is beginning to gradually grow and recover its lost position. In 2002 a total of around 800,000 t of powders of iron and steel together with articles made of iron and steel powders were produced throughout the world, including Russia (around 8,000 t, and Ukraine, around 4,000 t, and in the Republic of Belarus, 700 t of powder articles [1]). Structural materials and articles made of structural materials remain among the most common types of products fabricated in the powder metallurgy industry.The objective of the present study is to determine promising trends in the development of the powder metallurgy industry focused on structural materials.In the new century it has been predicted that processes of warm molding, molding by precipitation in spraying, gaseostatic compacting, and others will be widely used. The trend is associated with the use of powders of hightemperature alloys, high-speed steels, powders of iron and stainless steels, and materials that have been strengthened by means of dispersed particles.A more widespread introduction of processes of warm molding [2] that have been patented by the firm of Höganäs (Sweden) is anticipated. Through use of this technology [3][4][5] it is possible to obtain in a single stage of compaction relatively inexpensive articles from powders with improved (by comparison with cast steels) impact and fatigue properties. The technology is also distinguished by low losses of the initial mixture. Using this technology, the firm of Cincinati Inc. (United States) has already fabricated more than 50 types of different articles from iron powder. The method is especially efficient in compacting of nanopowders that are difficult to work with due to high elasticity characteristics. This is also the reason for the difficulties involved in fabricating high-density articles from nanopowders. Warm compacting of iron nanopowders (with grain size 5 nm) yields a relative density of 0.94. It is likely that mass production of articles with the use of warm compacting will begin in the near future [6].
