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A critical review on spark plasma sintering of copper and its alloys

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Abstract

Copper and its alloys have been in the service of humankind earlier than any other metal throughout history. In the present review, all aspects of the SPS of copper and its alloys are comprehensively investigated, and their potential effects on the microstructure and properties of alloys are thoroughly reviewed. In this regard, the densification phenomenon during SPS treatment is fully investigated. The effects of raw powder characteristics involving particle size, contamination content, and powder morphology on the sinterability of these materials are examined. Then, the influence of SPS operation parameters consisting of pressure, heating rate, dwelling time, pulsed electrical current, electrical pulses pattern, sintering temperature, and sintering tooling on densification of these materials is extensively discussed. Furthermore, the microstructure evolution and grain growth behaviors during SPS are explored. In addition, current challenges and future perspectives of this field are addressed.

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  1. National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, Moscow, Russia, 119049

    Mohammad Abedi, Atefeh Asadi & Stepan Vorotilo

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    Alexander S. Mukasyan

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MA and AA were involved in conceptualization and methodology; MA, AA, and SV were involved in validation and investigation; MA, AA, and AS were involved in data curation; MA, AA, SV, and AS were involved in writing—original draft preparation; MA and AS were involved in writing—review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Abedi, M., Asadi, A., Vorotilo, S. et al. A critical review on spark plasma sintering of copper and its alloys. J Mater Sci 56, 19739–19766 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-021-06556-z

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