A new process of pulsed electric current sintering was developed. It combines compaction with activated sintering effectively and can manufacture bulky nano-crystalline materials very quickly. A nano-structured steel is obtained with high relative density and hardness by this process. The average grain size of iron matrix is 58nm and the carbide particulate size is less than 100 nm. The densification temperature of ball-milled powders is approximately lower than that of blended powders. When the sintering temperature increases, the density of as-sintered specimen increases but the hardness of as-sintered specimen first increases and then decreases.

Based on theoretical analysis, a new general equation of mean particle size applicable to both conventional atomization methods and new atomization processes is presented. In gas atomization, it is equivalent with and can be changed into Lubanska Equation. In centrifugal atomization, it can be changed into the equations that are currently the most widely used. In water atomization, it is similar to the equation proposed by Grandzol and Tallmadge. According to the universal equation, new correlations for mean particle size in novel atomization processes such as Hybrid Atomization and Multistage Atomization were proposed and agreed with our experimental data well.