Microstructure and properties of Y_2O_3-doped steel-cemented WC prepared by microwave sintering

Steel-cemented WC was prepared by ball milling, cold compacting and microwave sintering with Fe powder as the matrix, WC as the hard phase and the addition of rare earth Y2O3. The results show that the interface of the WC particles and Fe matrix exhibits excellent wettability and liquidity when the microwave sintering temperature reaches 1,280℃. The density and mechanical properties of the steel bonded WC carbides could be greatly improved, the hard phases become finer and more uniform dispersed owing to the addition of Y2O3. With the increase of the Y2O3 contents, the grain becomes uniform and fine first, and then gathers and grows up. The relative density, microhardness and bending strength all rise first, reaching the maximum values of 97.29 %, HV1024 and 1,267.60 MPa at 0.5 % Y2O3, respectively, and then decrease. Moreover, the relative density and mechanical properties of the steel-cemented WC with nano-Y2O3 are higher than that with micron-Y2O3, which indicates that the effect of nano-Y2O3 is better than that of the micron-Y2O3.

Preparation and properties of ultra-fine TiCN matrix cermets by vacuum microwave sintering

Ultra-fine titanium carbonitride （TiCN） matrix materials with a grain size less than 1μm were successfully prepared by vacuum microwave sintering. The milling process for raw TiCN particles and the microstructure and properties of cermets produced with a composition of 15wt.%WC-17wt.%（Co＋Ni）-9wt.%Mo2C-59wt.%Ti0.TN0.3 and sintered by vacuum microwave were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The results show that a ball-to-powder mass ratio of 8：1 and a milling time of 50 h provided appropriate conditions for the production of ultra-fine TiCN solid solution powders. The use of vacuum microwave sintering produced cermets with much finer grain and black core structures and higher relative density and hardness than those produced by vacuum sintering technology.

Spark plasma and microwave sintering of Al6061 and Al2124 alloys

Despite the importance of aluminum alloys as candidate materials for applications in aerospace and automotive industries, very little work has been published on spark plasma and microwave processing of aluminum alloys. In the present work, the possibility was explored to process A12124 and A16061 alloys by spark plasma and microwave sintering techniques, and the microstructures and properties were compared. The alloys were sintered for 20 rain at 400, 450, and 500℃. It is found that compared to microwave sintering, spark plasma sintering is an effective way to obtain homogenous, dense, and hard alloys. Fully dense （100%） A16061 and A12124 alloys were obtained by spark plasma sintering for 20 rain at 450 and 500℃, respectively. Maximum relative densities were achieved for A16061 （92.52%） and A12124 （93.52%） alloys by microwave sintering at 500℃for 20 min. The Vickers microhardness of spark plasma sintered samples increases with the increase of sintering temperature from 400 to 500℃, and reaches the values of Hv 70.16 and Hv 117.10 for A16061 and A12124 alloys, respectively. For microwave siutered samples, the microhardness increases with the increase of sintering temperature from 400 to 450℃, and then decreases with the further increase of sintering temperature to 500~C.

Effects of Phosphorus Additions on Microwave Sintering Properties of Uitrafine WC-10Co Cemented Carbides

Using the microwave sintering technology, the effects of phosphorus （P） additions on the microstructure and properties of the ultrafine WC-10Co alloys were investigated. The experimental results show that with only 0.3wt% P additions, full density WC-10Co cermets were obtained at temperature of 1250℃, which is 70 ℃ lower than that of the undoped counterparts. Lower sintering temperature can result in finer WC grain growth; therefore, the P-doped WC-10Co alloys exhibited higher hardness than the undoped ones. But at the same time, P doping could lead to sacrifice of fracture toughness ofWC-10Co cemented carbides.

Microwave sintering of Ca_(0.6)La_(0.2667)TiO_3 microwave dielectric ceramics

Ca0.6La0.2667TiO3 ceramics were prepared by conventional and microwave sintering techniques and their sinterability, microstructure, and microwave dielectric properties were investigated in detail for comparison. Densified Ca0.6La0.E667TiO3 ceramics were obtained by microwave sintering at 1350℃ for 30 min and by conventional sintering at 1450℃ for 4 h. An unusual phenomenon was found that some larger grains （grain size range： 8-10 pan） inclined to assemble in one area but some smaller ones （grain size range： 2-4 μm） inclined to gather in another area in the microwave sintered ceramics. The microwave dielectric properties of Ca0.6La0.2667TiO3 ceramics prepared by micro- wave sintering at 1350℃ were as follows＂ dielectric constant （er） = 119.6, quality factor （Qf） = 17858.5 GHz, and temperature coefficient of resonant fi＇equency （rf）= 155.5 ppm/℃. In contrast, the microwave dielectric properties of the ceramics prepared by conventional sintering at 1450℃ were er = 117.4, Qf= 13375 GHz, and rf= 217.2 ppm/℃.

Microwave Sintering of W-15Cu Ultrafine Composite Powder Prepared by Spray Drying & Calcining-continuous Reduction Technology

The effects of microwave sintering and conventional H2 sintering on the microstructure and properties of W-15Cu alloy using ultrafine W-15Cu composite powder fabricated by spray drying ＆ calcining-continuous reduction technology were investigated. In comparison to the conventional HE sintering processing, microwave sintering to W-15Cu can be achieved at lower sintering temperature and shorter sintering time. Furthermore, higher performances in microwave sintered compacts were obtained, but high microwave sintering temperature or long microwave sintering time could result in coarser microstructures.

Microwave Sintering of Al_2O_3-ZrO_2-WC-Co Cermets

Composite powders of nanocrystalline WC-10Co （15wt%）,Y2O3 （8mol%） stabilized nanocrystalline ZrO2 （30wt%）,industrial cobalt powder （4.5wt%） and submicron Al2O3 （55wt%） composite powders were fabricated by high-energy ball-milling process.The nanocomposite powders were consolidated by microwave sintering process at temperature ranged 1300℃-1550℃ for 15min,respectively.The optimum consolidation conditions,such as temperature,were researched during microwave sintering process.Vickers Hardness of the consolidated cermets was measured by using a Vickers indentation test,and density of specimens was also determined by Archimedes＇ principle.Microwave sintering process could not only increase the density of Al2O3-ZrO2-WC-Co cermets and reduce the porosity,but also inhibit abnormal grain growth.

Preparation of Porous Mullite Composite by Microwave Sintering

Microwave sintering method was carried out to prepare porous mullite composite. An insulation structure based on hybrid heating mode was well designed with the wall of mullite and the aided heaters of SiC. The obtained samples were characterized by XRD analysis, apparent porosity detection, and bending strength measurement. SEM was used to observe the microstructure of the sample. It is found that the porous mullite composite could be prepared through the microwave sintering within 2 h at relatively low temperatures around 1000 ℃. The lasted samples show comparatively superior properties to the products prepared by conventional processing.

Preparation and Properties of Si2N2O Ceramics for Microwave Sintering Furnaces

Si2N2O ceramics were prepared using amorphous Si3N4 as the raw material and Li2CO3 as the sintering additive through vacuum multi-stage sintering.The influence of the Li2CO3 addition(0%,1%,2%,3%,and 5%,by mass)on the phase composition,the microstructure,the porosity,the mechanical properties,the dielectric constant and the tangent of the dielectric loss angle of the porous Si2N2O ceramics was investigated.The results reveal that a suitable addition of Li2CO3 can promote the generation of Si2N2O but excessive or inadequate Li2CO3 causes decomposition of Si2N2O ceramics.The prepared porous Si2N2O ceramics have good mechanical properties,good thermal shock resistance,and low dielectric properties,which have excellent potential for application in microwave sintering furnaces.

RESEARCH ON MICROWAVE SINTERING ALUMINA CERAMICS

This paper introduces the characteristic of microwave sintering,introduces and analyses the process of microwave sintering of thealumina ceramics, moreover, compared with the experiments ofconventional sintering method. Based on the research, some resultsare obtained, and experimental basis for microwave sintering ofceramics is put forward.

Luminescence enhancement of CaMoO_(4):Eu^(3+) phosphor by charge compensation using microwave sintering method

CaMoO_(4):Eu^(3+)and CaMoO_(4):Eu^(3+),A+(A=Li,Na,K)phosphors for light-emitting diode(LED)applications have been prepared by microwave sintering method(MSM),and their structure and luminescence properties are investigated.The influences of microwave reaction time and concentration of different kinds of charge compensation A+and Eu^(3+)on luminescence have also been discussed.The samples emit a red luminescence at 615 nm attributed to the^(5)D0→^(7)F2 transition of Eu^(3+)under 464 nm excitation.It is observed that adding charge compensation A+in the sample synthesis increases luminescence intensity.The optimized sample made with 32 mol%Li+and 32 mol%Eu^(3+)has an enhancement factor of 4 in photoluminescence compared to the sample made without charge compensation.The CIE(Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage)coordinates of Ca0.36MoO_(4):0.32Eu^(3+),0.32Li+are x=0.661 and y=0.339,which indicate that the obtained phosphor can be a promising red color candidate for white LED fabrications.

Skin effect of WC-8 wt% Co alloy by microwave sintering

To investigate the microwave effect on the WC–Co alloys,WC–8 wt%Co alloy was fabricated by microwave sintering(MWS)in this paper.The results show that decarburization layer forms on the surface of the microwave-sintered samples.WC grain coarsening in the core area is strongly suppressed by the decarburization effect.In addition,the microstructure of the MWS-fabri-cated alloy was compared to that of the alloy sintered by vacuum sintering(VS).Microstructural investigations by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and energy dis-persive spectroscopy(EDS)show that more tungsten(29.50 wt%)is dissolved in the cobalt binder phase in microwave-sintered alloy than that in the vacuum-sintered samples.Finally,the formation mechanism of the surface layer by skin effect was discussed.

Effect of Nd^(3+) substitution on structural and magnetic properties of Mg-Cd ferrites synthesized by microwave sintering technique

Nd3＋ substituted spinel ferrites with formula MgxCd1-xNd0.03Fe1.97O4（x = 0.0.2,0.4,0.6.0.8 and 1.0）were prepared by oxalate co-precipitation method using novel microwave sintering technique. AR grade sulphates were used as starting chemicals. The samples were sintered at optimized power of 70 W for10 min in a microwave oven（800 W）. The structural analysis of these samples was done by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform IR techniques. The XRD analysis of the synthesized ferrite confirms the formation of cubic spinel structure of ferrite. The influence of Nd3＋substitution on various structural parameters of Mg-Cd ferrites was reported. IR study indicates the spectra contain two intense absorption bands around 600 and 400 cm^（-1） in addition with four extra bands. The magnetic properties of all ferrites were studied by using a vibration sample magnetometer.The crystallite and grain size dependant magnetic properties are observed. The composition Mg_（0.6）Cd_（0.4）Nd_（0.03）Fe_（1.97）O_4 has better magnetic properties that can be used in recording media. The fast synthesis of spinel ferrites is yielded due to use of the microwave sintering technique.

Microwave sintering of TiCN-based cermets prepared from electroless Co-coated(Ti,W,Mo,V)CN powders

In this study,the densification and microstructure evolution of microwave sintered(Ti,W,Mo,V)CN-30 wt%Co cermets,which was prepared from electroless cobalt-coated submicron(Ti,W,Mo,V)CN powders,were investigated.The microwave sintering of mechanical milled powders as well as the conventional sintering of mechanical milled powders and Co-coated(Ti,M)CN powders was conducted as a comparison.Experimental results indicate that a slight densification is observed at sintering temperature of≤1100℃followed by a sharp shrinkage at the temperature range of 1200-1350℃due to the substantial formation of liquid phase at 1200℃.The 98.5%densification is obtained at 1375℃.Moreover,the samples sintered at 1375℃for 10 min have the micro structure with fine and homogeneous grains of about 700 nm.Compared to mechanical milling,electroless cobalt plating suppresses coalescence of neighboring grain at the solid-state sintering stage,thereby inhibiting grain growth.The mechanical properties of samples sintered at different temperatures for varied holding time were also discussed.

Synthesis and characterization of Y and Dy co-doped ceria solid electrolytes for IT-SOFCs:a microwave sintering

In this communication,the electrical conductivities and thermal expansion studies of microwave sintered co-doped ceria Ce_(0.8)Y_(0.2-x)Dy_(x)O_(2-δ)(x=0,0.05,0.10,0.15 and 0.20) solid electrolyte materials for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells(IT-SOFCs)synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method were discussed.Microwave sintering at 1300℃ for 30 min was used for making dense powder compacts.The relative densities of all the samples are noticed above 95%.Raman spectrum was characterized by the presence of a very strong band near 460 cm^(-1),which along with X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis ascertain the sample formation with a single-phase cubic fluorite structure.The lattice parameter values were calculated from XRD patterns.SEM images show nearly uniform grains with distinct grain boundaries.The thermal expansion coefficients(TECs) are found to vary linearly with temperature and were measured in the range from 14.15 to 13.20×10^(-6)℃^(-1).The investigation on total ionic conductivity(TIC) was executed with variation in dopant concentration and relative oxygen vacancies.The impedance analysis reveals that the sample Ce_(0.80)Y_(0.10)Dy_(0.10)O_(2-δ) displays the highest TIC,i.e.,7.5×10^(-3) S·cm^(-1) at 500℃ and minimum activation energy 0.90 eV compared to others.With the highest TIC and minimum activation energy,the Ce_(0.80)Y_(0.10)Dy_(0.10)O_(2-δ)might be the possible material as the solid electrolyte in intermediate temperature SOFCs.

SYNTHESIS OF LEAD FREE SODIUM BISMUTH TITANATE(NBT)CERAMIC BY CONVENTIONAL AND MICROWAVE SINTERING METHODS

Dielectric studies were carried out on a lead free Sodium Bismuth Titanate,NBT,(Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.5)TiO_(3))composition.The material was synthesized by conventional ceramic method(CS)and microwave sintering(MS).The presence of single phase has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy of NBT ceramic.The later technique(MS)resulted in material with high density,dielectric properties and improved microstructure.The transition temperature was observed slightly higher for microwave sintered(MS)material.Longitudinal modulus measurements are very sensitive property to identify the phase transitions in ceramics.Longitudinal modulus(L)measurements were also employed on these samples in the frequency 136 kHz and can be studied in the wide temperature range 30℃to 400℃.The elastic behavior(L)showed a break at two temperatures(~200℃and 350℃)in both the conventional and microwave sintered ceramics.In NBT ceramics,permittivity anomalies are connected to modulus anomalies.The results are correlated with the dielectric measurements.This behavior explained in the light of structural phase transitions in the ferroelectric ceramics.

Microwave Plasma Sintering of Nanocrystalline Alumina

Sintering of nanocrystalline alumina by microwave plasma has been studied. The relative density,microhardness of the samples with different grain sizes by microwave plasma and other sintering techniques have been

Microstructure Analysis of Microwave Sintered Ferrous PM Alloys

The properties and microstructure of microwave and conventional sintered Fe-2Cu-0.6C powder metallurgy （PM） alloys were investigated. The experimental results show that microwave sintered alloy has the better properties （sintered density 7.20 g/cm3, Rockwell hardness 75 HRB, tensile strength 413.90 MPa and elongation 6.0%）, compared with the conventional sintered counterpart. Detailed analyses by using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） reveal that microwave sintered sample has finer microstructure with small, rounded and uniformly distributed pores, and also demonstrate the presence of more flaky and granular pearlite in the mi- crowave sintered body, both of which account for the property improvement. SEM images on the fracture morphology indicate that a mixed mode containing ductile and brittle fracture is presented in microwave sintered alloy, in contrast with the brittle fracture in conventional sintered counterpart.

Consolidation and Microstructures of Microwave Sintered W-25Cu Alloys with Fe Addition

W-25Cu alloys were microwave sintered in a 2.45 GHz multimode applicator.The densification,microstructure and their dependence on sintering mode and Fe addition were investigated in detail.Owing to the volumetric heating intrinsic in microwave processing,a microstructure with larger W grain size in center regions was observed as against larger grain size in edge regions for conventional sintering.Microwave sintering demonstrates its intrinsic advantages such as rapid heating rate,densification enhancement and microstructural homogeneity;but it undesirably promotes W grain growth.Under microwave sintering,the role of Fe addition on compact consolidation is not so substantial as under conventional sintering.Moreover Fe degrades the microstructural quality,generating worse uniformity and coarser W grains.

FINITE ELEMENT COMPUTER MODEL OF MICROWAVE HEATED CERAMICS

At present,the concerned papers appeared in special magazines about discussing or introducing finite element method for calculating temperature distribution in ceramic body during microwave sintering, are not a good many, but it seems that finite element method is more convenient than finite difference method in dealing with special or complex geometry of ceramic body. In this paper, we describe a 3D finite element model simulating the heating pattern of ceramic microwave sintering in TE(10N) single-mode rectangular cavity in which the microwave energy deposition pattern in the samples can be expressed as an analysis function of space, and present a series of transient temperature distributions and heating rates of ceramic cylinders and cuboids tender variable thermal conductivities, dieletric loss factors,power consumer-levels, etc. These digital solutions may provide a better understanding of eliminating thermal runaway and improving temperature homogeneity.