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Field-assisted selective-melt sintering: a novel approach to high-density ceramics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2013

J. Narayan
J. Narayan*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Centennial Campus, EB-1, Raleigh, NC 27695-7907, USA
*
Address all correspondence to J. Narayan at j_narayan@ncsu.edu
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Abstract

Electrical fields can be used to heat selectively dislocations and grain boundaries to a much higher temperature compared with the bulk. This selective joule heating, if uncontrolled by limiting the current flow, can lead to melting of grain boundaries and sintering of poly- and nanocrystalline materials close to the theoretical density in a much shorter time due to fast diffusivities of the order of 10−4 to 10−5 cm2/s in the liquid. I refer to this sintering mode as selective-melt sintering, which can occur at lower overall temperatures with much lower energy consumption compared with conventional sintering involving solid-state diffusion.

Type
Research Letters
Information
MRS Communications , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 139 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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