A commercially available Y-TZP ceramic powder was fabricated under four different sintering profiles in order to investigate the effects of conventional single-stage sintering (SSS) with dwell times of 1 min and 2 h, respectively, compared with two-stage sintering (TSS), on the physical and mechanical properties of Y-TZP. Sintering was performed up to 1400 o C at a ramp rate of 10 o C/min. It w...

Alumina nanopowders produced by electrical explosion of wires were sintered using the spark plasma sintering technique. The results of XRD analysis show that the main phase in the compacted nanopowders is α-Al2O3. According to the SEM observations, the sintered alumina nanopowder consists of micron-sized faceted grains and nano-sized necked grains. The increase in sintering temperature resulted...

A transition from a low to a high spin state in the magnetization saturation between 1000 and 1100 oC calcination temperature is observed in YIG powders prepared by oxides mixture. Spark plasma sintering of these powders between 900 and 950 oC leads to dense samples with minimal formation of YFeO3, opening the way to cosintering of YIG with metals or metallic alloys. The optical properties depe...

Finite element simulations have been conducted to determine the temperature distribution (both in radial and axial direction), heat and electric flux-field in the powder compact/die/punch assembly during the spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. A thermal–electrical coupled model with temperature dependent thermal and electrical properties is implemented. The simulation studies were conducted u...

Electronic grade semiconductor films have been obtained via the sintering of solution processed PbS and PbSe nanocrystals at room temperature. Prior attempts to achieve similar films required the sintering of nanocrystals at higher temperatures (>350 °C), which inhibits the processing of such films on a flexible polymer substrate, and it is also expensive. We reduced the sintering temperature b...

Microwave sintering possesses unique attributes and has the potential to be development as a new technique for controlling microstructure and to improve the properties of advanced ceramics. Because microwave radiation penetrates most ceramics, uniform volumetric heating is possible. Thermal gradients, which are produced during conventional sintering because of conductive and radioactive heat tr...

Biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics (BCP) comprising a mix of non-resorbable hydroxyapatite (HA) and resorbable beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) are particularly suitable materials for synthetic bone substitute applications. In this study, HA synthesised by solid state reaction was mechanically mixed with beta-TCP, then sintered to form a suite of BCP materials with a wide range of HA/beta-...

Alumina-Mullite-Zirconia ceramic composites were prepared by reaction sintering of alumina, zircon mixture and the sintering aids of magnesia and titania at temperatures of 1400 and 1600 C for 2 hours. The development of different phases and microstructures of the composites were analysed to assess the relative influence of the additives on the formation of alumina-zirconia-mullite compos...

Mold Decomposed injection sculpturing (Mold DIS) process which integrates injection and sculpturing in layered manufacture is a novel rapid prototyping technique. In this paper a wax mold is fabricated through DIS process, the 316L stainless steel slurry is then cast into the mold. After curing and drying, the wax mold is melted and the green part is obtained. The purpose of this paper is to st...