The quartz glasses were prepared by sintering of fumed silica powders and the effect of OH concentration on their surface on sintering was studied. Through the firing process, the fumed silica was crystallized from 1180 to region. The amount of hydroxyl group decreased with increase in calcination temperature and consequently the crystallization was prevented. A transparent quartz glass was obtained from fumed silica, previously calcined at , by the sintering at for 1 h.

In this study, we mainly focus on the study of densification of gas-atomized Cu-50 wt.%In-13 wt.%Ga alloy powder without occurrence of crack during the forming process. Cu-50 wt.%In-13 wt.%Ga alloy powder was consolidated by sintering and rolling processes in order to obtain high density. The phase and microstructure of formed materials were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM), respectively. Warm rolling using copper can result in the improvement of density. The specimen obtained with 80% of rolling reduction ratio at using cooper can have the highest density of .

Bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric materials were successfully prepared by a spark plasma sintering process. Crystalline BiSbTe ingots were crushed into small pieces and then attrition milled into fine powders of about 300 nm ~ 2μm size under argon gas. Spark plasma sintering was applied on the BiSbTe powders at 240, 320, and 380˚C, respectively, under a pressure of 40 MPa in vacuum. The heating rate was 50˚C/min and the holding time at the sintering temperature was 10 min. At all sintering temperatures, high density bulk BiSbTe was successfully obtained. The XRD patterns verify that all samples were well matched with the Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3. Seebeck coefficient (S), electric conductivity (σ) and thermal conductivity (k) were evaluated in a temperature range of 25~300˚C. The thermoelectric properties of BiSbTe were evaluated by the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT (ZT = S2σT/k). The grain size and electric conductivity of sintered BiSbTe increased as the sintering temperature increased but the thermal conductivity was similar at all sintering temperatures. Grain growth reduced the carrier concentration, because grain growth reduced the grain boundaries, which serve as acceptors. Meanwhile, the carrier mobility was greatly increased and the electric conductivity was also improved. Consequentially, the grains grew with increasing sintering temperature and the figure of merit was improved.

The sintering behaviors and process parameters of some compounds (carbides, oxides, sulfides, borides) were investigated experimentally. These compounds were successfully consolidated and showed high densities. Some unique phenomena such as retardation of grain growth, suppression of thermal decomposition and maintenance of initial non-equilibrium phases, were observed by the proper control of process in spark sintering.

Tool steels serve a large range of applications including hot and cold workings of metals and injection mouldings of plastics or light alloys. The high speed steels (HSS) are specifically used as cutting tools and wear parts because it has high strength, wear resistance and hardness along with appreciable toughness and fatigue resistance. From the view of HSS microstructure, it can be described as metallic matrix composites formed by a ferrous with a dispersion of hard and wear resistant carbides. The experimental specimens were manufactured using the PIM with T42 powders (50~80 vol.%) and polymer (20~50 vol.%). The green parts were debinded in n-hexane solution at for 8 hours and thermal debinded at an mixed gas atmosphere for 8 hours. Specimens were sintered in high vacuum ( Torr) and various temperatures.

Magnetic properties and the microstructures of magnets prepared by spark plasma sintering were investigated in order to enhance magnetic properties by grain size control. Nd-Fe-B magnets were fabricated by the spark plasma sintering under 30 MPa at various temperatures. The grain size was effectively controlled by the spark plasma sintering and it was possible to make Nd-Fe-B magnets with grain size of 5.9 .

Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Extra Low Interstitial) alloy have been widely used as alternative to bone due to its excellent biocompatibility, although it still has many problems such as high elastic modulus and toxicity. Therefore, biomaterials with low elastic modulus and non toxic characteristics have to be developed. A novel β Ti-35wt%Nb-7wt%Zr-Calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) composite that is a biocompatible alloy without elemental Al or V was fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1000˚C under 70 MPa using high energy mechanical milled (HEMM) powder. The microstructure and phases of the milled powders and the sintered specimens were studied using SEM, TEM, and XRD. Ti-35wt%Nb-7wt%Zr alloy was transformed from α phase to β phase in the 4h-milled powder by sintering. The sintered specimen using the 4h-milled powder showed that all the elements were distributed very homogeneously and had higher density and hardness. β Ti alloy-CPP composite, which has nanometer particles, was fabricated by SPS using HEMMed powder. During the sintering process, CaTiO3, TixOy, and CaO were formed because of the reaction between Ti and CPP. The Vickers hardness of the composites increases with the increase of the milling time and the addition of CPP. The biocompatibility of the Ti-Nb-Zr alloys was improved by addition of CPP.

A Li2O-2SiO2 (LS2) glass was investigated as a lithium-ion conducting oxide glass, which is applicable to a fast ionic conductor even at low temperature due to its high mechanical strength and chemical stability. The Li2O-2SiO2 glass is likely to be broken into small pieces when quenched; thus, it is difficult to fabricate a specifically sized sample. The production of properly sized glass samples is necessary for device applications. In this study, we applied spark plasma sintering (SPS) to fabricate LS2 glass samples which have a particular size as well as high transparency. The sintered samples, 15mmφ×2mmT in size, (LS2-s) were produced by SPS between 480˚C and 500˚C at 45MPa for 3~5mim, after which the thermal and dielectric properties of the LS2-s samples were compared with those of quenched glass (LS2-q) samples. Thermal behavior, crystalline structure, and electrical conductivity of both samples were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and an impedance/gain-phase analyzer, respectively. The results showed that the LS2-s had an amorphous structure, like the LS2-q sample, and that both samples took on the lithium disilicate structure after the heat treatment at 800˚C. We observed similar dielectric peaks in both of the samples between room temperature and 700˚C. The DC activation energies of the LS2-q and LS2-s samples were 0.48±0.05eV and 0.66±0.04eV, while the AC activation energies were 0.48±0.05eV and 0.68±0.04eV, respectively.

The consolidation results of fine tungsten powders, W-Cu composite and W/Cu FGM by using a novel method combining resistance sintering with ultra high pressure have been reviewed. The densification effects of the consolidation parameters, including pressure, input power and sintering time, have been investigated. The sintering mechanism of this method was quite different from other sintering methods. Particle rearrangement, sliding, distortion and crushing due to the ultra high pressure are the dominant mehanisms at the initial stage, then the dominant sintering mechanisms are transient arc-fused processes controlled by the input power.

This paper reports the effect of sintering processes and additives on the microstructures and mechanical properties of -SiC composite ceramics. We fabricated sintered bodies of -20 vol.% SiC with or without sintering additive, such as C or , densified by spark plasma sintering as well as hot pressing. While almost full densification was achieved regardless of sintering processes or sintering additives, significant grain growth was observed in the case of spark plasma sintering, especially with . With sintered bodies, mechanical properties, such as flexural strength and Vickers hardness, were also examined.

In this study, a novel-processing route for fabricating microcellular zirconia ceramics has been developed. The proposed strategy for making the microcellula zirconia ceramics involved hollow microspheres as pore former. Compared to conventional dense microspheres pore former, well-defined pore structured zirconia ceramics were successfully fabricated. Effects of hollow microsphere content and sintering temperature on microstructure, porosity, pore distribution, and strength were investigated in the processing of microcellular zirconia ceramics.

Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Extra Low Interstitial) alloy has been widely used as an alternative to bone due to its excellent biocompatibility. However, it still has many problems, including a high elastic modulus and toxicity. Therefore, nontoxic biomaterials with a low elastic modulus should be developed. However, the fabrication of a uniform coating is challenging. Moreover, the coating layer on Ti and Ti alloy substrates can be peeled off after implantation. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to produce bulk Ti and Ti alloy with hydroxyapatite (HA) composites. In this study, Ti, Nb, and Zr powders, which are biocompatible elements, were milled in a mixing machine (24h) and by planetary mechanical ball milling (1h, 4h, and 6h), respectively. Ti-35%Nb-7%Zr and Ti-35%Nb-7%Zr-10%HA composites were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1000˚C under 70MPa using mixed and milled powders. The effects of HA addition and milling time on the biocompatibility and physical and mechanical properties of the Ti-35%Nb-7%Zr-(10%HA) alloys have been investigated. Ti2O, CaO, CaTiO3, and TixPy phases were formed by chemical reaction during sintering. Vickers hardness of the sintered composites increases with increased milling time and by the addition of HA. The biocompatibilty of the HA added Ti-Nb-Zr alloys was improved, but the sintering ability was decreased.

In order to make a (CZTSe) sputtering target sintered for solar cell application, synthesis of CZTSe compound by solid state reaction of Cu, Zn, Sn and Se mixed powders and effects of ball milling condition on sinterability such as ball size, combination of ball size, ball milling time and sintering temperature, was investigated. As a result of this research, sintering at after ball milling using mixed balls of 1 mm and 3 mm for 72 hours was the optimum condition to synthesis near stoichiometric composition of and to prepare sintered pellet with high density relatively.

The aim of this study was to investigate microstructures and mechanical properties of nano-sized Ti-35 wt.%Nb-7 wt.%Zr-10 wt.%CPP composite fabricated by high energy mechanical milling (HEMM) and pulse current activated sintering (PCAS). Grain growth of the mechanically milled powder was prevented by performing PCAS. The principal advantages of calcium phosphate materials include: similarity in composition to the bone mineral, bioactivity, osteoconductivity and ability to form a uniquely strong interface with bone. The hardness and wear resistance property of nano-sized Ti-35 wt.%Nb-7 wt.%Zr-10 wt.%CPP composites increased with increasing milling time because of decreased grain-size of sintered composites.

Electro-Discharge Sintering (EDS) employs a high-voltage/high-current-density pulse of electrical energy, discharged from a capacitor bank, to instantaneously consolidate powders. In the present study, a single pulse of 0.57-1.1 kJ/0.45 g-atomized spherical powders in size range of 10~30 and consisting of -(Ti, Zr) and icosahedral phases were applied to examine the structural evolution of icosahedral phase during EDS. Structural investigation reveals that high electrical input energy facilitates complete decomposition of icosahedral phase into C14 laves and -(Ti, Zr) phases. Moreover, critical input energy inducing decomposition of the icosahedral phase during EDS depends on the size of the powder. Porous Ti and W compacts have been fabricated by EDS using rectangular and spherical powders upon various input energy at a constant capacitance of in order to verify influence of powder shape on microstructure of porous compacts. Besides, generated heat () during EDS, which is measured by an oscilloscope, is closely correlated with powder size.

The phase Ti-Nb-Sn-HA bio materials were successfully fabricated by high energy mechanical milling and pulse current activated sintering (PCAS). Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy has been widely used as biomaterial. But the Al has been inducing Alzheimer disease and V is classified as toxic element. In this study, ultra fine sized Ti-Nb-Sn-HA powder was produced by high energy mechanical milling machine. The phase Ti-Nb-Sn-HA powders were obtained after 12hr milling from phase. And ultra fine grain sized Ti-Nb-Sn-HA composites could be fabricated using PCAS without grain growth. After sintering, the microstructures and phase-transformation of Ti-Nb-Sn-HA biomaterials were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The relative density was obtained by Archimedes principle and the hardness was measured by Vickers hardness tester. The -Ti phase was obtained after 12h milling. As result of hardness and relative density, 12h milled Ti-Nb-Sn-HA composite has the highest values.

The p-type thermoelectric compounds of based doped with 3wt% Te were fabricated by a combination of rapid solidification and spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. The effect of holding time during spark plasma sintering (SPS) on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties were investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermoelectric properties. The powders as solidified consisted of homogeneous thermoelectric phases. The thermoelectric figure of merit measured to be maximum () at the SPS temperature of .

The liquid-phase sintering method was used to prepare a glass lens forming core composed of SiC-Al2O3-Y2O3. Spark plasma sintering was used to obtain dense sintered bodies. The sintering characteristics of different SiC sources and compositions of additives were studied. Results revealed that, owing to its initial larger surface area, α-SiC offers sinterability that is superior to that of β-SiC. A maximum density of 3.32 g/cm3 (theoretical density [TD] of 99.7%) was obtained in α-SiC-10 wt% (6Al2O3-4Y2O3) sintered at 1850˚C without high-energy ball milling. The maximum hardness and compression stress of the sintered body reached 2870 Hv and 1110 MPa, respectively. The optimum ultra-precision machining parameters were a grinding speed of 1243 m/min, work spindle rotation rate of 100 rpm, feed rate of 0.5 mm/min, and depth of cut of 0.2 μm. The surface roughnesses of the thus prepared final products were Ra = 4.3 nm and Rt = 55.3 nm for the aspheric lens forming core and Ra = 4.4 nm and Rt = 41.9 for the spherical lens forming core. These values were found to be sufficiently low, and the cores showed good compatibility between SiC and the diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating material. Thus, these glass lens forming cores have great potential for application in the lens industry.

The effects of doping on the crystal structure, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of (K,Na) (KNN) ceramics have been investigated. was found to be effective in enhancing the densification and grain growth during sintering. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that Mn ions substituted B-site Nb ions up to 2 mol%, however, further doping induced unwanted secondary phases. In comparison with undoped KNN ceramics, the well developed microstructure and the substitution to B-sites in 2 mol% Mn-doped KNN ceramics resulted in significant improvements in both piezoelectric coupling coefficient and electromechanical quality factor.

Nanostuctured TiAl powder was synthesized by high energy ball milling. A dense nanostuctured TiAl was consolidated using pulsed current activated sintering method within 2 minutes from mechanically synthesized powders of TiAl and horizontally milled powders of Ti+Al. The grain size and hardness of TiAl sintered from horizontally milled Ti+Al powders and high energy ball milled TiAl powder were 35 nm, 20 nm and 450 kg/, 630 kg/, respectively.