Spark Plasma Sintering of Mg-based Alloys:Microstructure,Mechanical Properties,Corrosion Behavior,and Tribological Performance

Within the past ten years,spark plasma sintering(SPS)has become an increasingly popular process for Mg manufacturing.In the SPS process,interparticle diffusion of compressed particles is rapidly achieved due to the concept of Joule heating.Compared to traditional and additive manufacturing(AM)techniques,SPS gives unique control of the structural and microstructural features of Mg components.By doing so,their mechanical,tribological,and corrosion properties can be tailored.Although great advancements in this field have been made,these pieces of knowledge are scattered and have not been contextualized into a single work.The motivation of this work is to address this scientific gap and to provide a groundwork for understanding the basics of SPS manufacturing for Mg.To do so,the existing body of SPS Mg literature was first surveyed,with a focus on their structural formation and degradation mechanisms.It was found that successful Mg SPS fabrication highly depended on the processing temperature,particle size,and particle crystallinity.The addition of metal and ceramic composites also affected their microstructural features due to the Zener pinning effect.In degradative environments,their performance depends on their structural features and whether they have secondary phased composites.In industrial applications,SPS'd Mg was found to have great potential in biomedical,hydrogen storage,battery,automotive,and recycling sectors.The prospects to advance the field include using Mg as a doping agent for crystallite size refinement and using bulk metallic Mg-based glass powders for amorphous SPS components.Despite these findings,the interactions of multi-composites on the processing-structure-property relationships of SPS Mg is not well understood.In total,this work will provide a useful direction in the SPS field and serve as a milestone for future Mg-based SPS manufacturing.

Effect of Sintering Temperature on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Nanocrystalline Cemented Carbide

WC-Co nanocrystalline nitrogen-containing cemented carbides were prepared by vacuum sintering and low pressure sintering.The sintering processes of Cr_(2)(C,N)doped nano WC-Co powders were studied by using thermogravimetric analysis(TGA)and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).The effect of sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline cemented carbide was studied by scanning electron microscope(SEM),high resolution transmission electron microscope(HRTEM)and mechanical property test.The results showed that the nano WC grains began to grow in the solid phase sintering stage.A high-performance nano-nitrogen-containing cemented carbide with uniform microstructure and good interfacial bonding can be obtained by increasing the sintering temperature to 1380℃.It has a transverse rupture strength(TRS)of 5057 MPa and a hardness of 1956 HV30.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of 8YSZ ceramics by liquid-phase sintering with CuO-TiO_2 addition

The 8%(mass fraction) yttrium-partially-stabilized zirconia(8YSZ) ceramic was fabricated via liquid phase sintering at 1 200-1 400 °C by adding different mass ratios of CuO-16.7%TiO2(molar fraction) as sintering aid.Relative density,microstructure,Vickers hardness and bending strength as a function of sintering temperature and additive content were investigated.The experiment results show that liquid phase sintering at low temperature can be realized through adding CuO-16.7% TiO2 to 8YSZ.The Vickers hardness and bending strength of samples with sintering aid are generally much higher than those of samples without sintering aid for all sintering temperatures,and increase with the increase of sintering temperature.When the addition content of CuO-16.7% TiO2 is beyond 0.5%,the relative density,Vickers hardness and bending strength decrease with the increase of the mass ratio of sintering aid.Low additions of sintering aid are beneficial to aiding densification;high additions of sintering aid are detrimental to the sintered properties mainly due to greater amounts of pores generated by the volatilization of oxygen with the eutectic reaction between copper oxide and titanium dioxide.It is found that the fine grain size and high relative density are two main reasons of the high bending strength and Vickers hardness of the materials.

A critical review towards the causes of the iron-based catalysts deactivation mechanisms in the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur from biogas

Hydrogen sulfide(H_(2)S) not only presents significant environmental concerns but also induces severe corrosion in industrial equipment,even at low concentrations.Among various technologies,the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide(SOH_(2)S) to elemental sulfur(S) has emerged as a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution.Due to its unique properties,iron oxide has been extensively investigated as a catalyst for SOH_(2)S;however,rapid deactivation has remained a significant drawback.The causes of iron oxide-based catalysts deactivation mechanisms in SOH_(2)S,including sulfur or sulfate deposition,the transformation of iron species,sintering and excessive oxygen vacancy formation,and active site loss,are thoroughly examined in this review.By focusing on the deactivation mechanisms,this review aims to provide valuable insights into enhancing the stability and efficiency of iron-based catalysts for SOH_(2)S.

Influences of oxide content and sintering temperature on microstructures and mechanical properties of intragranular-oxide strengthened iron alloys prepared by spark plasma sintering

How to increase strength without sacrificing ductility has been developed as a key goal in the manufacture of high-performance metals or alloys. Herein, the double-nanophase intragranular yttrium oxide dispersion strengthened iron alloy with high strength and appreciable ductility was fabricated by solution combustion route and subsequent spark plasma sintering, and the influences of yttrium oxide content and sintering temperature on microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated. The results show at the same sintering temperature,with the increase of yttrium oxide content, the relative density of the sintered alloy decreases and the strength increases. For Fe–2wt%Y_(2)O_(3)alloy, as the sintering temperature increases gradually, the compressive strength decreases, while the strain-to-failure increases. The Fe–2wt%Y_(2)O_(3)alloy with 15.5 nm Y_(2)O_(3)particles uniformly distributed into the 147.5 nm iron grain interior sintered at 650℃ presents a high ultimate compressive strength of 1.86 GPa and large strain-to-failure of 29%. The grain boundary strengthening and intragranular second-phase particle dispersion strengthening are the main dominant mechanisms to enhance the mechanical properties of the alloy.

Mechanism research on arsenic removal from arsenopyrite ore during a sintering process

The mechanism of arsenic removal during a sintering process was investigated through experiments with a sintering pot and arsenic-bearing iron ore containing arsenopyrite; the corresponding chemical properties of the sinter were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry(ICP-AES),X-ray diffraction(XRD),and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS). The experimental results revealed that the reaction of arsenic removal is mainly related to the oxygen atmosphere and temperature. During the sintering process,arsenic could be removed in the ignition layer,the sinter layer,and the combustion zone. A portion of Fe As S reacted with excess oxygen to generate Fe AsO_4,and the rest of the Fe As S reacted with oxygen to generate As_2O_3(g) and SO_2(g). A portion of As_2O_3(g) mixed with Al_2O_3 or CaO,which resulted in the formation of arsenates such as AlAsO_4 and Ca_3(AsO_4)_2,leading to arsenic residues in sintering products. The Fe As S component in the blending ore was difficult to decompose in the preliminary heating zone,the dry zone,or the bottom layer because of the relatively low temperatures; however,As_2O3(g) that originated from the high-temperature zone could react with metal oxides,resulting in the formation of arsenate residues.

Acting mechanism of F,K,and Na in the solid phase sintering reaction of the Baiyunebo iron ore

The effect of F,K,and Na on the solid phase reaction of the Baiyunebo iron ore was investigated by differential thermal analysis （DTA） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）.It has been identified that alkaline elements K and Na in the Baiyunebo ore instigate the formation of low melting point compounds Na2SiO3 and Na2O·Fe2O3 and the generation of molten state in the solid phase sintering.Element F in the Baiyunebo ore facilitates the formation of cuspidine compound 3CaO·2SiO2·CaF2 in the solid phase reaction.The cuspidine compound is kept in solid as one of the final products through the entire sintering process due to its high melting point.In the sintering process,CaF2and SiO2 react with CaO first and form 3CaO·2SiO2·CaF2 and 3CaO·2SiO2,so the formation of ferrites,Na2O·Fe2O3,and 2CaO·Fe2O3 is inhibited.

The Influences of Controlling Sintering Mechanism on Electrical Properties of Multilayer PTCR Chip

Experiments were designed to investigate the influence of controlling sintering mechanism on electrical properties of multilayer PTCR chip. During the preparation process, heating rate, sintering temperature, high-temperature holding time and cooling method were respectively regulated to prepare multilayer PTCR chip with good performance. After the process of organic casting, the casting PTCR green films were sintered at 1 260-1 280 ~C for 0.5 h at reduction atmosphere, which was heated at the rate of 400 ℃/h. Then selecting 300 ℃/h as the cooling rate, the ceramics were oxidated at 850 ℃ for 1 h. The prepared multilayer PTCR chips exhibited room temperature resistivity of below 100 Ω.cm, and resistance rising rate more than 104 unit through the Curie temperature.

Selective laser sintering mechanism of polymer-coated molybdenum powder

A type of polymer-coated molybdenum powder used in selective laser sintering technology was prepared by coating polymer on molybdenum particles and frozen grinding techniques, with the maximum particle diameter of 71 μm. The laser sintering experiments of polymer-coated molybdenum powder were conducted by using the self-developed selective laser sintering machine (HLRP-350I). The method of microscopic analysis was used to investigate the dynamic laser sintering process of polymer-coated molybdenum powder. Based on the study, the laser sintering mechanisms of polymer-coated molybdenum powder were presented. It is found that the mechanism is viscous flow when the laser sintering temperature is between 100 ℃ and 160 ℃, which can be described by a two-sphere model; and the mechanism is melting /solidification when the temperature is above 160 ℃.

Mineral-phase evolution and sintering behavior of MO–SiO_2–Al_2O_3–B_2O_3 (M = Ca,Ba) glass-ceramics by low-temperature liquid-phase sintering

In this work, network former SiO_2 and network intermediate Al_2O_3 were introduced into typical low-melting binary compositions CaO·B_2O_3, CaO·2B_2O_3, and BaO·B_2O_3 via an aqueous solid-state suspension milling route. Accordingly, multiple-phase aluminosilicate glass-ceramics were directly obtained via liquid-phase sintering at temperatures below 950°C. On the basis of liquid-phase sintering theory, mineral-phase evolutions and glass-phase formations were systematically investigated in a wide MO–SiO_2–Al_2O_3–B_2O_3(M = Ca, Ba) composition range. The results indicate that major mineral phases of the aluminosilicate glass-ceramics are Al_(20)B_4O_(36), CaAl_2Si_2O_8, and BaAl_2Si_2O_8 and that the glass-ceramic materials are characterized by dense microstructures and excellent dielectric properties.

Sintering Mechanism of Stainless Steel in Powder Injection Molding

Stainless steel samples were made by Powder injection Molding (PIM) process with-400 mesh powder in order to investigate the sintering mechanism in this system and develop the PIM of stainless steels. The process included mixing, injection molding, debin- ding and sintering. Neck growth model was used to analyze the sintering mechanism. The results show that lattice (volume) diffusion is the main mechanism in the sintering process, the products with higher density (>95%) and properties are obtained. At lower temperatures, grain boundary diffusion may play a role in the sintering densification.

Pressure sintering of W-15wt.%Cu alloys prepared by mechanical alloying as a subsequent densification treatment method

The sintered W-15wt.%Cu alloys fabricated by mechanical alloying were re-sintered under pressure to increase the density and improve the properties of these alloys. The pressure was applied vertically along the axis of the sintered sample. Properties such as density, hardness, and bending strength were measured. The microstructures of the sintered bodies were observed. The results showed that the subsequent pressure sintering could increase the density of the sintered W-15wt.%Cu alloys. Their hardness, bending strength, and some other physical properties were also improved by this subsequent densification treatment.

Spark plasma sintering on mechanically activated W-Cu powders

Mechanically activated W-Cu powders were sintered by a spark plasma sinteringsystem (SPS) in order to develop a new process and improve the properties of the alloy. Propertiessuch as density and hardness were measured. The microstructures of the sintered W-Cu alloy sampleswere observed by SEM (scanning electron microscope). The results show that spark plasma sinteringcan obviously lower the sintering temperature and increase the density of the alloy. This processcan also improve the hardness of the alloy. SPS is an effective method to obtain W-Cu powders withhigh density and superior physical properties.

Kinetic characteristics of liquid phase sintering of mechanically activated W-15wt%Cu powder

The kinetic characteristics of W grain growth operated by diffusion controlled Oswald ripening （DOR） during liquid phase sintering were studied. A liquid phase sintering of W-15wt%Cu was carried out by pushing compacts into a furnace at the moment when the temperature increased to 1340℃ for different sintering times. The results show that liquid phase sintering produces the compacts with considerably low relative density and inversely, rather high homogeneity. On the basis of the data extracted from the SEM images, the kinetic equation of W grain growth, G^n = G0^n ＋ kt, is determined in which the grain growth exponent n is 3 and the grain growth rate constant k is 0.15 μm^3/s. The cumulative normalized grain size distributions produced by different sintering times show self-similar. The cumulative distribution function is extracted from the curves by non-linear fitting. In addition, the sintering kinetic characteristics of W-15wt%Cu compacts were also investigated.

High-temperature mechanical properties and deformation behavior of high Nb containing TiAl alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering

A high Nb containing TiA1 alloy was prepared from the pre-alloyed powder of Ti-45Al-8.5Nb-0.2B-0.2W-0.02Y （at%） by spark plasma sintering （SPS）. Its high-temperature mechanical properties and compressive deformation behavior were investigated in a temperature range of 700 to 1050℃ and a strain rate range of 0.002 to 0.2 s 1. The results show that the high-temperature mechanical properties of the high Nb containing TiA1 alloy are sensitive to deformation temperature and strain rate, and the sensitivity to strain rate tends to rise with the deformation temperature increasing. The hot workability of the alloy is good at temperatures higher than 900℃, while fracture occurs at lower temperatures. The flow curves of the samples compressed at or above 900℃ exhibit obvious flow softening after the peak stress. Un- der the deformation condition of 900-1050℃ and 0.002-0.2 s 1, the interrelations of peak flow stress, strain rate, and deformation tempera- ture follow the Arrhenius＇ equation modified by a hyperbolic sine function with a stress exponent of 5.99 and an apparent activation energy of 441.2 kJ.mol-1.

Morphology and Mechanical Properties of PS/Al_2O_3 Nanocomposites Based on Selective Laser Sintering

Selective laser sintering （SLS） is a new process to prepare the polystyrene （PS）/Al2O3 nanocomposites. In this paper, with different laser power and other processing parameters unchanged, the morphology, density and mechanical properties of the sintered specimens were investigated. It was found that nano-sized inorganic particles are uniformly located in the PS matrix and the maximum density of the sintered specimens with pure PS powder reaches 1.07 g/cm^3, higher than 1.04 g/cm^3 that of the sintered specimens with mixture powder. Due to strengthening and toughness of the nano-sized Al2O3 inorganic particles, the maximum notched impact strength and tensile strength of the sintered part mixed with nano-sized inorganic particles are improved greatly from 7.5 to 12.1 kJ/m^2 and from 6.5 to 31.2 MPa, respectively, under the same sintering condition.

Microstructure, thermal properties, and corrosion behaviors of FeSiBAlNi alloy fabricated by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

An equiatomic FeSiBAlNi amorphous high-entropy alloy （HEA） was fabricated by mechanical alloying （MA）. A fully amorphous phase was obtained in the FeSiBAlNi HEA after 240 h of MA. The bulk FeSiBAlNi samples were sintered by spark plasma sintering （SPS） at 520 and 1080℃ under a pressure of 80 MPa. The sample sintered at 520℃ exhibited an amorphous composite structure comprising solid-solution phases （body-centered cubic （bcc） and face-centered cubic （fee） phases）. When the as-milled amorphous HEA was consoli- dated at 1080℃, another fcc phase appeared and the amorphous phase disappeared. The sample sintered by SPS at 1080℃ exhibited a slightly higher melting temperature compared with those of the as-milled alloy and the bulk sample sintered at 520℃. The corrosion behav- iors of the as-sintered samples were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization measurements and immersion tests in seawater solution. The results showed that the HEA obtained by SPS at 1080℃ exhibited better corrosion resistance than that obtained by SPS at 520℃.

The effect of sintering and cooling process on geometry distortion and mechanical properties transition of PTFE/Al reactive materials

In this research,the effect of the sintering and cooling process on geometry distortion and mechanical properties of PTFE/Al reactive material is investigated.Six particularly selected sintering temperatures,three different cooling modes(annealing cooling,normalizing cooling and rapid cooling),three different initial cooling temperature s,as well as six different final cooling temperatures were designed to compare the effects of sintering temperature,cooling rate,initial cooling temperature and final cooling temperature on the properties of reactive materials.Geometry distortion was quantitatively analyzed by a statistic on the dimensional changes of the specimens and microscopic morphology.A mechanical response properties transition from brittle to ductile was found and analyzed.By combining the thermodynamic properties of PTFE and unsteady heat conduction theory,mechanisms of cooling induced morphology change,temperature induced distortion and strength decrease were obtained.The results showed that the cooling rate has the most significant effect on the morphology transformation,while initial cooling temperature has more significant effect on the dimensional distortion than final cooling temperature.As to the mechanical properties transition from brittle to plastic,a more prominent effect of initial cooling temperature than cooling rate and final temperature was revealed.

Effects of sintering atmosphere on the physical and mechanical properties of modified BOF slag glass

This study proposes an efficient way to utilize all the chemical components of the basic oxygen fttrnace （BOF） slag to prepare high value-added glass-ceramics. A molten modified BOF slag was converted from the melting BOF slag by reducing it and separating out iron component in it, and the modified BOF slag was then quenched in water to form glasses with different basicities. The glasses were subsequently sintered in the temperature range of 600-1000℃ in air or nitrogen atmosphere for 1 h. The effects of different atmospheres on the physical and mechanical properties of sintered samples were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and by conducting experiment on evaluating the sintering shrinkage, water absorption and bulk density. It is found that the kinetics of the sintering process is significantly affected by sintering atmosphere. In particular, compared with sintering in air atmosphere, sintering in N2 atmosphere promotes the synergistic growth of pyroxene and melilite crystalline phases, which can contribute to better mechanical properties and denser microstructure.