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

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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.

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Acknowledgements

The author is pleased to acknowledge useful discussions and comments on the manuscript by Professor Hans Conrad.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Centennial Campus, EB-1, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7907, USA

    J. Narayan

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  1. J. Narayan
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Correspondence to J. Narayan.

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Narayan, J. Field-assisted selective-melt sintering: a novel approach to high-density ceramics. MRS Communications 3, 139–143 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2013.27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2013.27

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