Influence of Internal Pulsed Current on the Sintering Behavior of Pulsed Current Sintering Process

Abstract

To clarify the influence of internal pulsed current upon the sintering behavior of powder materials during spark plasma sintering processing, simultaneous measurement of internal current using magnetic probe was carried out. Magnetic probe is installed to the side of the sintering ZnO powder material through the carbon graphite sintering die, and detects the magnetic field generated by internal current which flow through the specimen. By magnetic probe measurement, the internal current that flows through the specimen during SPS process was several hundred ampere, and the ratio of the internal current to the total current was found to be dependent on the electrical conductivity, diameter of powder material and the progress of SPS process. The measurement and estimation of an internal pulsed current using a magnetic probe in the specimen is very useful for in situ observation of the sintering behavior during the SPS process.