An in-situ three-dimensional study of the dynamic and mechanism during spark plasma sintering of aluminum alloys

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2024.09.004

Abstract

Abstract: An in-situ plasma spark sintering (SPS) apparatus, coupled with laboratory X-ray microscopy, was utilized to three-dimensionally investigate the dynamic evolution process of 7055 aluminum alloy during SPS process. The influences of sintering temperatures and particle morphology on the sintering kinetics were discussed in detail. It was observed that elevating the sintering temperatures enhanced both the rate of densification and the final compactness of the alloy. Furthermore, three-dimensional quantitative analysis of pore evolution indicated that greater discrepancies in powder size between neighboring particles facilitated pore elimination during sintering by increasing available interstitial spaces. Mechanistic analysis rationalized these observations by attributing the enhanced sintering kinetics to the greater particle size disparity, which resulted in higher necking curvature and accelerated densification. The present study therefore provides a comprehensive three-dimensional in-situ quantitative analysis on the dynamic SPS process, and is expected to advance the current comprehension of sintering mechanisms at the micron scale.

Key words: Laboratory X-ray microscopy, Three-dimensional tomography, Spark plasma sintering, Aluminum alloys

Peng Chen, Kesong Miao, Rengeng Li, Guohua Fan, Hao Wu. An in-situ three-dimensional study of the dynamic and mechanism during spark plasma sintering of aluminum alloys[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2025, 219: 113-123.

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