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Effect of powder morphology on the microstructure and mechanical property gradients in stainless steels induced by thermal gradients in spark plasma sintering

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Abstract

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) utilizes joule heating to achieve rapid heating to densify a powder compact. Thermal gradients during SPS lead to microstructural and property gradients in the sintered parts. To elucidate the effect of starting powder morphology on these gradients, the present work investigated location-specific microstructure and mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steels fabricated via SPS of unsymmetrical powder compacts by paring three types of powders: spherical, plate-like and flakey. Local mechanical properties as a function of radial distance from the center of the sample were investigated via microhardness tests, nanoindentation, and nanoscratch. Radially graded microstructure (porosity and grain size) resulting from the thermal gradients in SPS led to gradients in local microhardness (ΔH = 120–150 MPa) and Young’s modulus (ΔE = 30–65 GPa), yielding higher wear resistance at the sample surface and higher elastic modulus at the sample center, suggesting that higher powder morphology aspect ratios lead to larger thermal gradients.

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Acknowledgements

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The work was supported by the corresponding author’s institutional (start-up) fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Advanced Materials Discovery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Alexander D. Preston & Kaka Ma

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Kaka Ma

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  1. Alexander D. Preston
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Correspondence to Kaka Ma.

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Preston, A.D., Ma, K. Effect of powder morphology on the microstructure and mechanical property gradients in stainless steels induced by thermal gradients in spark plasma sintering. MRS Advances 6, 482–488 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-021-00089-y

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