Fundamentals of Sintering: Solid State Sintering

The phenomena responsible for Solid State Sintering and for the evolution of the microstructure during the process are described. After the introduction, the second section introduces sintering driving force and mechanisms. The third section covers sintering of prior cold compacted powders. The fourth section describes the sintering dimensional change. In the fifth section, the effect of the material and process parameters is described. Given its great importance, the sintering atmosphere is treated separately in the sixth section. The seventh section shortly describes the analysis through the Continuum mechanics and the last section introduces the reader to the Master Sintering curve.