An iron-based sintered alloy material for a valve seat having improved
wear resistance and reduced opposite aggressibility to a mating valve.
The iron-based sintered alloy material contains 10% to 20% by area of
first hard particles and 15% to 35% by area of second hard particles
dispersed in a base matrix phase, the first and the second hard particles
accounting for 25% to 55% by area in total. The first hard particles are
composed of a cobalt-based intermetallic compound and have a size of 10
to 150 .mu.m and a hardness of at least 500HV0.1 and less than 800HV0.1.
The second hard particles are composed of a cobalt-based intermetallic
compound and have a size of 10 to 150 .mu.m and a hardness of at least
800HV0.1 and less than 1100HV0.1. Solid lubricant particles may also be
dispersed in the base matrix phase.