Powder metallurgy applied rapid heating to sintering starting year 1900. Since 1970 the study has intensified. Now rapid sintering concepts embrace a spectrum of options ranging from dunk cycles to microwave, induction, exothermic, electric field, and spark approaches. Most of the efforts are targeting reduced microstructure coarsening during sintering, although reduced material decomposition is another common goal. The efforts are impressive for simple shapes and success metrics such a small grain size after densification. Several barriers need to be removed prior to application in powder metallurgy commercial sintering. Rapid heating research needs to focus on significant property gains, accurate product dimensions, and lower costs. So far each property gain obtained with rapid heating is matched by traditional sintering and composition changes. Several examples are cited to show the goals for the next round of innovations.

• Randall M. German