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Sintering: From Empirical Observations To Scientific Principles

This document provides an introduction and overview of sintering. It discusses how sintering has been used for over 28,000 years but recent discoveries are expanding its applications. New areas that rely on sintered structures include solar cells, nuclear reactors, biomedical implants, and 3D printed dental crowns/bridges. Efforts are also being made to sinter thin electronic circuits, solar cell connections, capacitors, and thermoelectric devices. The document traces the history and theoretical understanding of sintering from early platinum crucibles in the 1800s to modern computer simulations. It aims to explain the basics of sintering and how the concepts apply broadly across different material fabrication areas.

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AYUSH SINGH IET Lucknow Student
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210 views

Sintering: From Empirical Observations To Scientific Principles

This document provides an introduction and overview of sintering. It discusses how sintering has been used for over 28,000 years but recent discoveries are expanding its applications. New areas that rely on sintered structures include solar cells, nuclear reactors, biomedical implants, and 3D printed dental crowns/bridges. Efforts are also being made to sinter thin electronic circuits, solar cell connections, capacitors, and thermoelectric devices. The document traces the history and theoretical understanding of sintering from early platinum crucibles in the 1800s to modern computer simulations. It aims to explain the basics of sintering and how the concepts apply broadly across different material fabrication areas.

Uploaded by

AYUSH SINGH IET Lucknow Student
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PREFACE

Exciting new designs are enabled by the sintering process. Although practiced for over
28,000 years, recent discoveries are moving sintering into some bold new applications.
New energy systems, ranging from solar cells to nuclear reactors, are critically contingent
on sintered structures. Another example is the fabrication of porous tissue scaffolds for
biomedical implants, in which the device is custom laser sintered to match strength
and elastic modulus of the patient. In the same manner, dental crown and bridge con-
structions are produced overnight using additive computer driven sintering routes.
An enormous effort is pushing forward the sintering of thin printed electronic structures,
such as small radio frequency identification circuits to be embedded in consumer pro-
ducts, allowing information transfer when activated by near-field cellular telephones.
Related efforts are taking place in replacement interconnections for solar cells and a host
of capacitor, energy storage, and magnet devices. The field of superabrasives is producing
sintered diamond bonded onto sintered cemented carbides substrates to make long-
lasting oil and gas drilling tools. Another growth area is that of sintered thermoelectric
junctions to convert waste heat into electricity, including waste heat from automobile
engines.
This modern era of sintering traces to the early 1800s when the first platinum crucibles
were made for melting glass. Significant progress came in the early 1900s with the produc-
tion of incandescent lamp filaments, but theoretical explanations awaited the development
of atomic theory and the atomic motion concepts that emerged in the 1940s. Once atomic
theory was melded with sintering observations, quantitative conceptualizations arose.
In turn, that effort matured to produce computer simulations. Now those simulations
are approaching the accuracy that is demanded by manufacturing. Soon extraterrestrial
sintering will use lunar soils and solar energy to construct buildings on the moon. The
prospects for expanded applications are outstanding.
This book explains the basics of sintering. The concepts are equally applicable to the
fabrication of electronic capacitors, automotive transmission gears, high intensity lights,
jet engine control linkages, or high speed end mills. The approach starts with historical
concepts, mixes history and science, and outlines the theoretical evolution. The scientific
underpinnings arose from simple questions that form the key points covered by this book:
What is sintering?
How do we observe sintering?
What are some of the key parameters?
How can we improve sintering?
Where did sintering theory come from?
Where do we stand on modeling sintering?

xi
xii Preface

Included are chapters on emerging topics, such as the role of rapid heating, and
introductions to sintering tools.
The effort of writing this book started in the preparation of a Plenary Seminar for
Sintering 2011 and a Keynote Lecture for the 2012 Materials Science and Technology
Conference. My thanks go to Suk-Joong Kang, Eugene Olevsky, and Khalid Morsi for
their early support. Several students helped, notably Wei Li, Timothy Young, Michael
Brooks, and Shuang Qiao. Kenneth Brookes provided background information on
sintered carbides, while Zak Fang, Animesh Bose, and Donald Heaney organized relevant
reviews. Louis Rector and Howard Glicksman provided information on sintered
electronic applications. Lanny Pease donated a missing book to provide insights. Other
missing information was obtained from the Metal Powder Industries Federation and
American Ceramic Society. I am thankful to a host of other individuals for their efforts
and kind words, and to San Diego State University for giving semesters without teaching
to complete this project.
This book is dedicated to Animesh Bose; he is a testimonial to what can be done by
applying sintering. And the scary thing is his children are smarter and more motivated.

Randall M. German

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