In Situ Observations of Sintering Process during Pulsed Current Sintering of Al2O3, ZnO and WC Alloy

Abstract

Pulsed Current Sintering (PCS) process possesses some problems that need to be resolved. We, therefore aims at understanding phenomena of PCS process by presenting some basic data on in situ sintering behavior of PCS. In order to observe in situ sintering behavior of PCS, a special graphite mold equipped with thermo couple and electrodes were designed to measure the temperature, electric current and voltage inside the powder during PCS process. We apply three types of raw materials, especially for ZnO (thermoelectric material) as semiconductor, Al2O3 as non-conductor and WC (Tungsten Carbide) as good conductor. The observation succeeded and some valuable data were obtained. The results showed that the temperature in the Al2O3 powder is 100 K higher than the graphite mold at the temperature of 1473K and ZnO powder is 150 K higher than the graphite mold at the temperature of 1373K. The electric current and voltage were measured for each powder during PCS process. In addition, their electric resistance properties were calculated. The electric resistance showed different behavior.