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@ It is a process in which an assembly of loose or
compacted particles is metallurgically bonded
into a coherent body at elevated temperatures.
@ The driving force for solid state sintering is the
excess surface free energy that accompanies the
reduction in porosity.
@ temperature is usually below the melting point
of the major constituent of the powder.
@ Heating is carried out in a controlled, inert or
reducing atmosphere, or in a vacuum to prevent
oxidation
@ uring the process the part shrinks and densify,
without losing its pressed or moulded shape.
@ Sintering is a complex process and for any given
metal and set of sintering conditions there are
likely to be different stages, driving forces and
material transport mechanisms associated with
the process.
@ it generally involves 6 distinct stages;
Initial bonding among particles
Neck growth
Pore channel closure
Pore rounding
ensification or pore shrinkage
Pore coarsening
@ Œaterial transport mechanisms involved include
surface diffusion, volume diffusion, evaporation
and condensation.
@ Factors that affect sintering include
temperature,
time,
particle size,
compact porosity as well as
pre-alloying.
@ Time and temperature however are the most
significant factors.
 à.1 Œechanism of Sintering
@ Particles bond with one another due to atomic
diffusion.
@ The driving force for sintering is the
minimization of the solid-vapour interface area
and the elimination of pores.

  

@ ps sintering begins, small necks form and grow
between contacting particles by mass transfer
via atomic diffusion.
@ In fine powders the driving force of sintering is
high because of the larger surface area per unit
volume.
@ This increases the solid-vapour interfacial
energy.
@ However some of this solid-vapour interfacial
energy is used in creating new grain boundaries
at the contact region between particles.
@ Thus net energy depends on both surface
energy and grain boundary energies
@ uring this stage mechanisms p, B and F
dominate.
@ Higher temperatures increase rate of neck
growth because the diffusion coefficient, ,
increases exponentially with T according to the
equation
@ Where o is the pre-expontial factor which
depends on atomic movement processes, Q is
the activation enrgy, R is the universal gas
constant and T the absolute temperature.
 à.1.2 Channel closure stage
@ The particles become individually in-
distinguishable.
@ ensification is more pronounced as the pore
channels in the powder aggregate gradually and
close, thus reducing the pore volume.
@ The migration of pore volume becomes possible
and pores continue to form a semi-connected
phase throughout the aggregate.
@ The diffusion and mass transfer mechanism
that control this stage is p and E
@ The time, t, required to achieve complete
homogenization is inversely proportional to the
diffusion coefficient 

@ Where  is the average diameter of the

dispersed particles and k is a constant
depending on alloy system parameters and alloy
composition.
 à.1.3 Pore isolation
@ The pores become isolated and are no longer
interconnected.
@ This occurs in the final stages of sintering. Volume
diffusion becomes the dominant mechanism of
transportation.
@ pnother physical process that occurs in this final
stage is pore coarsening, which increases the mean
pres size while reducing the number of pores (and
percent porosity).
@ phenomenon is also © 
 

  there
is competitive growth of larger pores at the expense
of smaller pores which lose vacancies to the larger
pores and disappear (they get annihilated).
@ wenerally, fine particles, high sintering
temperatures and long sintering times promote
better homogenization of the composition and
thererefore better quality of product.
 à.2 pctivated sintering
@ used when rapid part production with low
energy consumption is required, i.e. T and t must
be decreased.
@ In this method specific chemicals (activators) are
added to the powder during blending.
@ The activator helps to form a low melting
temperature phase which provides a high
difussivity path for rapid sintering and lower
activation energy barrier for diffusion to take
place
@ Ideally the activator must have very low
solubility in the main component (base metal)
of the powder in order to minimize
contamination.
@ On the other hand the base metal must have
high solubility in the activator in order to lower
the liquidus temperature.
@ Example is the use of Ni, Pd or Pt as surface
activators in tungsten powders
 à.3 Liquid Phase Sintering
@ occurs in powder with a large range of melting
temperatures of metal components.
@ In such systems a liquid may form as a result of
one phase of the system.
@ mass transport and sintering kinetics are
improved due if the following conditions are
met;
The liquid wets the solid phase and uniformly coats
it
The diffusivity of the solid͛s atoms in the liquid is
large
The solid is soluble in the liquid
@ p wetable liquid film enables the surface
tension to draw the powders together, thus
aiding densification and pore elimination.
@ The liquid film also lubricates the solid͛s surface
and facilitates particle rearrangement.
@ These changes contribute to rapid decrease in
the compact volume.
@ LPS is observed in many metallurgical binary
and ternary systems such as the Cu-Co, W-Cu,
W-Ni-Fe, W-pg, Cu-Sn, Fe-Cu and Co-Œo-Fe
alloys.
 isadvantages of LPS

@ Swelling may occur because the melt

penetrates the boundaries in solid phase and
the solid disintegrates into smaller particle
and separate.
@ This reduces the part density.
@ Swelling can be controlled by selecting fine
powders, low compacting pressures and slow
heating rates.
 à.4 Sintering Procedure
@ For production purposes sintering is carried out
in continuous furnaces that comprise of 4
zones
 Vone 1 Lubricants burning off (or
delubing zone)
@ The pressed parts are slightly heated to burn
and sweep out lubricant.
@ The fumes from this zone are subsequently
vented off.
@ atmosphere is slightly oxidizing and this helps
to convey heat quickly and uniformly.
@ For steels the temperature range is 42à-700oC
 Vone 2 Sintering
@ The parts are heated to sintering temperature
(700-1120oC for steels).
@ Neck formation and channel closure occur in
this range.
@ The atmosphere in this zone must be neutral or
reducing.
@ For better sintering oxidation must be avoided.
@ Oxide layers on in coming particles have the
following effects
Prevent wetting of the particle surfaces and this
effectively reduces mass transfer by diffusion
 Reduces the bonding strength between individual
particles
Prevents pore rounding and this affects structural
integrity and toughness of the resultant part
@ V  

  
@ uring slow cooling to 8à0oC in endorthemic
and neutral or reducing atmosphere, carbon is
restored to the surface of the part. The cooling
rate is also controlled
 Vone 4 Cooling
@ Thepurpose of this zone is to cool down the
part (from 8à0oC) to ambient temperature.
@ The process should however prevent oxidation
of the material and hence the atmosphere is
slightly reducing, neutral or slightly oxidizing.

@ Once the part gets to room temperature

sintering is finished and the next step involves
finishing processes prior to selling
 References
@ 1. Edwards L. and Endean Œ Œ   ©  
  
 
@ 2. .K. Singh £  
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@ m ŒŒ
   

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