CB-4
Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS/FAST/PECS) consists of directly appliying pulsed dc currents and uniaxial pressure to a powdered material in a die with heating rates typically from 100 °C/min up to 1,500 °C/min. The process results in fully dense, fine grained bodies in very short holding time and at considerably lower temperatures (hundreds Celsius degrees) compared to the more conventional sintering and hot pressing techniques. Owing to its peculiar features, SPS is gaining increased interest for the production of functional nanoceramics from high purity powders, composites, cermets, coatings, joints. Being SPS a non-equilibrium process, materials containing non-equilibrium phases or materials combining different phases that would not normally coexist may be obtained.
In Flash Sintering (FS), a technique recently tentatively translated from metals to the field of ceramics, a direct current field applied by a pair of electrodes to a green ceramic specimen results in a nearly instantaneous (few seconds) densification when the field and the temperature exceed threshold values. Exceptional high densification rates and low densification temperatures may be obtained with significant time and energy saving, that can be further reduced by application of stress. The underlying fundamental mechanisms of charge transport, chemical diffusion and the pulse nature of Joule heating effective on the transient phenomena active in flash sintering, and how powder grain size and stoichiometry affect the process appear until now scarcely debated and poorly understood
Suggested session topics
In Flash Sintering (FS), a technique recently tentatively translated from metals to the field of ceramics, a direct current field applied by a pair of electrodes to a green ceramic specimen results in a nearly instantaneous (few seconds) densification when the field and the temperature exceed threshold values. Exceptional high densification rates and low densification temperatures may be obtained with significant time and energy saving, that can be further reduced by application of stress. The underlying fundamental mechanisms of charge transport, chemical diffusion and the pulse nature of Joule heating effective on the transient phenomena active in flash sintering, and how powder grain size and stoichiometry affect the process appear until now scarcely debated and poorly understood
Suggested session topics
- Fundamental mechanisms and control of SPS and FS
- Modeling and simulation of electrical field and flash activated densification
- Consolidation phenomena, phase constitution
- Property evaluation
- SPS hybrid techniques