Press and sintering, also known as press-and-sinter, is a conventional powder metallurgy process used to create dense ceramic articles with desired characteristics and material properties. The process involves mixing elemental or alloy powders with lubricants or additives to produce a homogeneous mixture. These additives can improve the machinability, wear resistance, or lubricity of the final product.
There are two main methods of sintering: pressureless sintering and pressured sintering. Pressureless sintering involves heating the compacted powder to below its melting point without applying external pressure. On the other hand, pressured sintering methods use mechanical energy and heat energy to densify the products. The three main types of pressured sintering methods are hot isostatic pressing sintering, hot pressing sintering, and gas pressure sintering.
Hot pressing sintering is a process that uses both heat energy and mechanical energy to densify the products. The sintering temperature can be lower than that of normal pressure sintering, depending on the applied pressure. The added energy speeds up the densification process, allowing fully dense and fine-grained products to be achieved in a shorter time and at a lower temperature. Vacuum hot pressing sintering can further improve the process by reducing the sintering temperature and effectively removing gas in the micro pores, promoting the densification process.
During the sintering process, the powder compact undergoes two stages. In the first stage, the compacted powder is transformed into a weak and poorly integrated oversize component with the desired shape. In the second stage, the component is baked to expel the binder material and fuse the remaining particles together, resulting in a full-strength part. This approach is widely used in the production of complex net-shape parts with excellent mechanical properties and low per-part cost.
Sintering in powder metallurgy involves heating a compacted powder to fuse the particles, resulting in a harder and stronger part. The compaction process alone is not enough to create a final work-ready component, so sintering is necessary. It is the final major step in producing a reliable powder metal part.
Sintering is achieved by heating the compacted powder to below its melting point. At high temperatures, the ceramic powders undergo various changes, such as grain growth and particle rearrangement, which eliminate the pores between the powder particles. This results in a dense ceramic article with improved mechanical and high-temperature properties, as well as enhanced electrical conductivity, translucency, or thermal conductivity.
In summary, press and sintering is a powder metallurgy process that involves mixing powders with additives to create a homogeneous mixture. The compacted powder is then sintered, transforming it into a dense ceramic article with desired characteristics and material properties. The sintering process eliminates pores between the powder particles, resulting in a final product that is stronger and more reliable.
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