ME306 ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

MODULE 1
Machining is a broad term to describe removal of
material from a workpiece.

• Machining categories: –
- Cutting involves single-point or multipoint cutting
tools, each with a clearly defined geometry.
– Abrasive processes, such as grinding.
– Nontraditional machining, utilizing electrical,
chemical, and optical sources of energy.
WHY NON TRADITIONAL MACHINING?....
 Nontraditional Machining

• Ultrasonic Machining (USM)

• Water-Jet Machining & Abrasive-Jet Machining
• Chemical Machining
• Electrochemical Machining (ECM)
• Electrical-Discharge Machining (EDM)
• High-Energy-Beam Machining
– Laser-beam machining (LBM)
– Electron-beam machining (EBM)
 Traditional vs. Nontraditional
• Primary source of energy
– Traditional: mechanical.
– Nontraditional: electrical, chemical,
optical
• Primary method of material removal
– Traditional: shearing
– Nontraditional: does not use shearing
(e.g., abrasive water jet cutting uses
erosion)
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND NON TRADITIONAL MACHINING PROCESSES
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND NON TRADITIONAL MACHINING PROCESSES

Conventional v/s Non Conventional

 Definition of PowderMetallurgy
• Powder metallurgy may defined as, “the art
and science of producing metal powders and
utilizing them to make serviceableobjects.”
OR
• It may also be defined as “material processing
technique used to consolidate particulate
matter i.e. powders both metal and/or non-
metals.”
Process of Powder Metallurgy:
POWDER METALLURGY STEPS
PRODUCTION OF METALPOWDERS

The selection of materials in powder

metallurgy is determined by two factors.
i)The alloy required in the finished part.
ii)Physical characteristics needed in the
powder.
Both of these factors are influenced by the
process used for making powder.
i) There are numerous ways for powder production
which can be categorized as follows.
1) Mechanical methods of powder production:
i) Chopping or Cutting
ii) Abrasion methods
iii) Machining methods
iv) Milling
v) Cold-stream Process.
2. Chemical methods of powder production:
i) Reduction of oxides
ii) Precipitation from solutions
iii) Thermal decomposition of compounds
iv) Hydride decomposition
v) Thermit reaction
vi) Electro- chemical methods
3. Physical methods of powder production:
i) Water atomization
ii) Gas atomization
iii) Special atomization methods

The choice of a specific technique for powder

production depends on particle size, shape,
microstructure and chemistry of powder and also on
the cost of the process.
1. Chopping or Cutting:
In this process, strands of hard steel wire, in diameter as
small as 0.0313 inches are cut up into small pieces by
means of a milling cutter.
This technique is actually employed in the
manufacturing of cut wire shots which are used for
peening or shot cleaning.
Limitations:
It would, however, be difficult and costly to make
powders by this method.
2. Rubbing or Abrasion Methods:

These are all sorts of ways in which a mass of metal might

be attacked by some form of abrasion.

a) Rubbing of Two Surfaces:

When we rub two surfaces against each other, hard surface
removes the material from the surface of soft material.
b) Filing:
Filing as a production method has been frequently employed, especially
to alloy powders, when supplies from conventional sources have been
unobtainable.
Such methods are also used for manufacture of coarse powders of dental
alloys.
Filing can also be used to produce finer powder if its teeth are smaller.
* commercially not feasible.
c) Scratching:
If a hard pin is rubbed on some soft metal the
powder flakes are produced.
Scratching is a technique actually used on a large scale for
the preparation of coarse magnesium powders.
* scratching a slab of magnesium with hardened steel
pins.
* a revolving metal drum to the surface of
which is fixed a scratching belt.
d) Machining:
A machining process, using for example a lathe or a milling cutter in
which something more than just scratching is involved, since the
attacking tool actually digs under the surface of the metal and tears it off.
On lathe machine by applying small force we get fine chips.
A large amount of machining scrap is produced in machining operations.
This scrap in the form of chips and turnings can be further reduced in
size by grinding.
* small scale production.
Disadvantages:
•Lack of control on powder characteristics, including
chemical contamination such as oxidation, oil and other
metal impurities.
• The shape of the powder is irregular and coarse.

Advantages:
•For consuming scrap from another process, machining is a
useful process.
•Presently the machined powder is used with high carbon
steel and some dental amalgam powders.
 COMMERCIAL METHODS
These are the methods used for high production rate. Best
examples of mechanical production methods are the
Milling Process and Cold Stream Process.
Milling:
The basic principle of milling process is the application of
impact and shear forces between two materials, a hard and
a soft, causing soft material to be ground into fine particles.
Milling techniques are suitable for brittle materials.
Two types of milling are;
i) Ball Milling
ii)Attrition Milling.
Objectives of milling include:
Particle size reduction (comminution or grinding)
Shape change (flaking)
Solid-state alloying (mechanical alloying)
 Solid-state blending (incomplete alloying)
Modifying, changing, or altering properties of a material
(density, flowability, or work hardening)
Mixing or blending of two or more materials or mixed
phases
 Ball Milling:
Ball milling is an old and relatively simple method for grinding large lumps of
materials into smaller pieces and powder form.
Principle of the process:
The principle is based on the impact and shear forces. Hard balls are used for
mechanical comminution of brittle materials and producing powders.
Milling Unit:
The basic apparatus consists of the following;
•A ball mill or jar mill which mainly consists of a rotating drum lined
from inside with a hard material.
•Hard balls, as a grinding medium, which continue to impact the material
inside the drum as it rotates/rolls.
Figure: Tumbler mill used for milling metal powders
Important Parameters:
1. The most important parameter to consider is the speed
of rotation of the drum. An optimum/critical speed is
adjusted for maximum impact velocity.
* Critical speed is the speed above which the ball will
centrifuge.
• Very slow speed of rotation will not carry the balls to the
top, these will roll back down the drum sides.
• Very fast speed (higher than critical speed) will not let
the balls drop down as they will be carried around due to
centrifugal forces. Thus, an optimum speed is required.
This speed of rotation varies with the inverse square root
of the drum diameter.
2. The material of grinding media and its size and
density.
• The size and density of the milling medium is
selected according to the deformation and fracture
resistance for metals.
• For hard and brittle materials large and dense
media is used. Whereas, small balls are used for
finer grinding.
• As a general rule, the balls should be small and
their surface should be a little rough. The material
of the balls and lining of the drum should be same
as that of the material being ground.
3.The rate of milling of a powder is a function of
quantity in the total space between the balls.
4.Lubricants and surface active agents are used to
nullify the welding forces which causes
agglomeration.
Grinding Mechanism:
During milling the following forces cause fracture of
material into powder.
Impact Forces: These are caused by instantaneous
striking of one object on the other. (Impact is the
instantaneous striking of one object by another. Both
objects may be moving or one may be stationary).
Shear Forces: These are caused as one material
slides/rubs against the other.
Limitations:
• Rubbing action causes contamination of powder since
balls may also get rubbed.
• Working hardening of metal powder is caused during
milling.
• There is a possibility of excessive oxidation of final
powder.
• Quality of powder is poor.
• Particle welding and agglomeration may take place.
 COLD STREAM PROCESS
• This process is based on impact phenomenon caused by
impingement of high velocity particles against a cemented
carbide plate.

• The unit consists of:

 A feed container;
 A compressor capable of producing a high velocity stream
of air (56 m3/min.) operating at 7 MPa (1000 psi);
 A target plate, made of cemented tungsten carbide, for
producing impact;
 A classifying chamber lined with WC while the supersonic
nozzle and target generally are made of cemented tungsten
carbide.
Mechanism of the Process:
The material to be powdered is fed in the chamber and
from there falls in front of high velocity stream of air.
This air causes the impingement of material against
target plate, where material due to impaction is
shattered into powder form. This powder is sucked and
is classified in the classifying chamber. Oversize is
recycled and fine powder is removed from discharge
area.

* Rapidly expanding gases leaving the nozzle create a

strong cooling effect through adiabatic expansion.
This effect is greater than the heat produced by
pulverization.
 CHEMICAL METHODS
• Almost all metallic elements can be produced in the
form of powders by suitable chemical reactions or
decomposition.
Mostly chemical methods are based on the decomposition
of a compound into the elemental form with heating or
with the help of some catalyst.

In most cases such processes involve at least two

reactants.
(i) a compound of the metal
(ii) a reducing agent
 REDUCTION OF METALOXIDES
Manufacturing of metal powder by reduction of oxides is
extensively employed, particularly for Fe, Cu, W and Mo.

Advantages:
A variety of reducing agents can be used and process can
be economical when carbon is used.
 Close control over particle size
Porous powders can be produced which have good
compressive properties.
Adoptability either to very small or large manufacturing
units and either batch or continuous processes.
Limitations:
Process may be costly if reducing agents are gases.
Large volumes of reducing gas may be required, and
circumstances where this is economically available
may be limited; in some cases, however, costs may
be reduced by recirculation of the gas.
The purity of the finished product usually depends
entirely upon the purity of the raw material, and
economic or technical considerations may set a
limitation to that which can be attained.
Alloy powders cannot be produced.
Production of Iron Powder
by Reduction of Iron Oxide:

(Direct Reduction Process)

Iron powders are commercially used for a large
number of applications such as fabrication of
structural parts, welding rods, flame cutting,
food enrichment and electronic and magnetic
applications.
The classical technique for production of iron
powder is the reduction of iron oxide.
Theory of the process:
It is the oldest process of production of iron
powder by using carbon as the reducing agent.
In this process pure magnetite (Fe3O4) is used.
Coke breeze is the carbon source used to reduce
iron oxide. Some limestone is also used to react
with the sulphur present in the coke. The mixture
of coke and limestone (85% + 15%) is dried in a
rotary kiln and crushed to uniform size.
The ore and coke-limestone mixture is charged into
ceramic tubes (Silicon Carbide) with care so that ore
and reduction mixture are in contact with each other
but not intermixed. It can be achieved by using
concentric charging tubes with in the ceramic tube.
Within the hot zone, several chemical reactions
occur and metallic iron is formed in the form of
sponge cake.
The main reaction is;
MO + R M + RO
If magnetite ore is used, then the following reactions
will take place:
Fe3O4 + 3CO FeO + 3CO2
FeO + CO Fe + CO2
C + ½ O2 CO
Decomposition of the limestone generates carbon
dioxide, which oxidizes the carbon in the coke to form
carbon monoxide. The ferrous iron oxide is further
reduced by the carbon monoxide to metallic iron.
Desulphurization occurs in parallel with reduction by
reaction between gas and sulphides present in the ore
resulting in gaseous sulphide compounds which in turn
react with lime to form calcium sulphide.
The sponge cake is removed from ceramic tubes and
dropped into a tooth crusher where this is broken into
pieces.
After these pieces are ground to desired particle size.
During grinding the powder particles are considerably
work hardened. The powder is annealed at 800 - 870
oC in the atmosphere of dissociated ammonia.

The powder is loosely sintered, but requires only light

grinding and screening to produce a finished product.
 THE CARBONYL PROCESS
• The only method for the manufacture of metal
powder by the pyrolysis of a gaseous compound
which has been used industrially on a substantial
scale is the carbonyl iron or nickel process.
• When iron and nickel ores react under high pressure
(70 – 300 atm.) with carbon monoxide, iron
pentacarbonyl [Fe(CO)5] or nickel tetracarbonyl
[Ni(CO)4] is formed, respectively.
• Both compounds are liquids at room temperature.
• Fe(CO)5 evaporates at 103 oC and Ni(CO)4 at 43 oC.
Precipitate Formation:
This step of the process is carried out according to the
following scheme:
 The liquid carbonyles are stored under pressure in tanks
submerged in water.
 The distilled and filtered liquids are conveyed to steam
heating cylinders, where they are vaporized.
 The vapors of liquid are sent to decomposers. The
decomposers are jacketed and heated, giving an internal
temperature of 200 – 250 oC. These cylinders are 9 – 10 feet
high with an internal dia of 3 feet, with conical bottoms.
 The incoming stream of vapors meets a tangential stream of
ammonia gas. CO is removed here and precipitates of
metals are formed which are then sieved, dried and may be
milled to break up the agglomerates.
 The CO gas arising from the decomposition is recovered
and re-used.
Carbonyl iron powder is used for the production of
magnetic powder cores for radio or television
applications.
In P/M it is used for the manufacture of soft
magnetic materials and permanent magnets.
Because of its high price and poor die filling
properties, it is not suitable for the manufacture of
sintered structural components.
The carbonyl process is also well suited for the
extraction of both metals from lean ores. The
process can be controlled so as to yield a spherical
metal powder.
Powder Manufacture Techniques
Atomising Process

In this process the molten metal is forced

through an orifice into a stream of high
velocity air, steam or inert gas. This causes
rapid cooling and disintegration into very fine
powder particles and the use of this process is
limited to metals with relatively low melting
point.
melt atomization
atomization with a rotating consumable electrode
Electrolysis Process
In this process the conditions of electrode position are controlled in
such a way that a soft spongy deposit is formed, which is subsequently
pulverised to form the metallic powder. The particle size can be varied
over a wide range by varying the electrolyte compositions and the
electrical parameters.
Gaseous Reduction

This process consists of grinding the metallic oxides

to a fine state and subsequently, reducing it by
hydrogen or carbon monoxide. This method is
employed for metals such as iron, tungsten, copper,
etc.
Granulation Process

This process consists in the formation of an oxide film in

individual particles when a bath of metal is stirred in
contact with air.
Mechanical Alloying

In this method, powders of two or more pure metals are mixed

in a ball mill. Under the impact of the hard balls, the powders
are repeatedly fractured and welded together by forming alloy
under diffusion.
 Characteristics of fine powder
1. Surface area
2. Density
I. True density
II. Apparent density
III. Tap density
IV. Green density
3. Flow rate
4. Green strength
5. Green spring
6. Compressibility and compression ratio
7. Particle shape
- depends on powder productionmethod
8. Particle size
-dia of spherical particles
-Av. Dia of non spherical particles
divided into 3 classes
1. sieve
2. sub sieve
3. sub micron
9. Particle size distribution
shape factor= surface area/ Volume
Aspect ratio = largest dim/ smallestdim
 Apparent density of a powder sometimes called packing density or loading weight is
defined as the mass per unit. Volume of loose or unpacked powder.
 Tap density is the apparent density of the powder after it has been mechanically shaken
down or tapped until the level of the powder no longer falls.
 Flow rate characteristic of powders measures, the ability of a powders to be transferred.
 Green strength of a powder is defined as the mechanic strength of a green compact
required to with stand.
 Green spring property of the green compact, associated with the difference between the
size of the compact and the tools employed prepare it, is usually termed green spring
because the compact expand both radially and longitudinally on ejection from the tool.
Characteristics of fine powder
 Powder treatment & Handling

In powder conditioning, the powders prepared by various methods are subjected

to a variety of treatments to improve or modify their physical, chemical
characteristics

Powder treatments

Elemental powders => powders of single metallic element; eg.: iron for magnetic
applications
Pre-alloyed powders => more than one element; made by alloying elemental
powders during manufacturing process itself;
Majority of powders undergo heat treatments prior to compaction like,
i) Drying to remove moisture,
ii) grinding/crushing to obtain fine sizes,
iii) particle size classification to obtain the desired particle size distribution,
iv) annealing,
v) mixing and blending of powders,
vi) lubricant addition for powder compaction,
vii) powder coating
a)Cleaning of powders
b) Grinding
c) Powder classification & screening
d) Blending & mixing
Blending – Process in which powders of the same nominal
composition but having different particle sizes are intermingled.

This is done to
(i) obtain a uniform distribution of particle sizes, i.e. powders
consisting of different particle sizes are often blended to reduce
porosity,
(ii) for intermingling of lubricant with powders to modify metal to
powder interaction during compaction
Mixing – process of combining powders of different chemistries such
as elemental powder mixes (Cu-Sn) or metal-nonmetal powders.
• This may be done in dry or wet condition.
• Liquid medium like alcohol, acetone, benzene or distilled water are
used as milling medium in wet milling.
• Ball mills or rod mills are employed for mixing hard metals such as
carbides.
 Mixing methods
(i) convective mixing: transfer of one group of particles
from one location to another,
(ii) diffusive mixing: movement of particles on to newly
formed surface,
(iii) shear mixing: deformation & formation of planes
within the powders
Depending on the extent of mixing, mixing can be classified as

i) perfectly mixed or uniform mixing,

ii) (ii) random mixed, &
iii) (iii) totally un-mixed.
 Heat treatment of powders

i) Improving the purity of powder

Reduction of surface oxides from powders by annealing in
hydrogen or other reducing atmosphere
ii) Improving the powder softness
iii) Modification of powder characteristics
 Powder Compaction
The principle goal of the compaction process is to
apply pressurize and bond the particles to form a
cohesion among the powder particles. This is usually
termed as the green strength.
 Compaction of metal powders
Compaction is an important step in powder
processing as it enables the forming of loose metal powders
into required shapes with sufficient strength to withstand till
sintering is completed
Powder compaction methods

1. Methods without application of pressure –

i) loose powder sintering in mould,

ii) vibratory compaction,
iii) slip casting,
iv) slurry casting,
v) injection moulding
2. Methods with applied pressure –

i) cold die compaction (single action pressing, double

action pressing, floating die pressing),
ii) isostatic pressing,
iii) powder rolling,
iv) powder extrusion,
v) explosive compaction
 Pressureless compaction techniques
1. loose powder sintering in mould
In this method, the metal powder is vibrated mechanically
into the mould, which is the negative impression of the product
and heated to sintering temperature.

Applications
Highly porous filter materials made of bronze, stainless steel, and
monel, porous nickel membrane for use as electrodes in alkaline
storage batteries and fuel cells are typical examples
II) Slip cassting
A slip is a suspension of metal or ceramic powder (finer than 5 µm) in
water or other soluble liquid which is pored into a mould, dried and
further sintered.
• Steps in slip casting:
i) Preparing assembled plaster mould,
ii) filling the mould,
iii) absorption of water from the slip into the porous mould,
iv) removal of part from the mould,
v) trimming of finished parts from the mould

• Sometimes mould release agents like oil, graphite can be used.

• Hollow and multiple parts can be produced
Slip is usually made of,

1) a dispersion agent to stabilize the powder against colloidal

forces,
2) a solvent to control the slip viscosity and facilitate casting,
3) a binder for giving green strength to the cast shape,
4) plasticizer to modify the properties of the binder
Applications: tubes, boats, crucibles, cones, turbine blades, rocket guidance fins;
Also products with excellent surface finish like basins, water closets.

Assembled mould Filling mould Absorption of water

Part removal
from slip
III) Slurry casting:

This process is similar to slip casting except that a slurry of metal

powders with suitable liquids, various additives, and binders is poured
into a mould and dried.
IV) Tape casting (doctor blade casting)

Process involves preparing a dispersion of metal or ceramic

powder in a suitable solvent with the addition of dispersion agent (to
improve the dispersion of the particles). Then a binder is added and
fed to a reservoir. Whole mixture is fed on to a moving carrier film
from the bottom of the reservoir.

This process can be used for making very thin tapes between 50 to
1000 µm thickness (stainless steel belt instead of carrier sheet). This
method is used for making electronic substrates, dielectrics for
capacitors and piezoelectric actuators.
V) Vibratory compaction:

Vibratory compaction uses vibration energy to compact the powder

mass. During this process, smaller voids can be filled with particles of
still smaller size and this sequence is carried out till a high packing
density of powder is achieved even before consolidation.
- Important variables in vibratory compaction:

- 1. inertia of system: larger the system, more the energy

required for packing
- 2. friction force between particles: more friction results in
need of more KE for compaction
- 3. particle size distribution: more frequency required if
more large particles are present. Vibration cycle is
important and not period of vibration.
 Pressure compaction techniques
Die compaction:

In this process, loose powder is shaped in a die using a

mechanical or hydraulic press giving rise to densification.
The mechanisms of densification depend on the material and
structural characteristics of powder particles.
The compaction exercise imparts the following effects.

1. Reduces voids between the power particles and enhance the

density of the consolidated powder,
2. Produces adhesion and bonding of the powder particles to
improve green strength in the consolidated powder particles,
3. Facilitates plastic deformation of the powder particles to
conform to the final desired shape of the part,
4. Enhances the contact area among the powder particles and
facilitates the subsequent sintering process.
Compaction of metal powder to form a bushing
 Cold isostatic compaction (CIP)

• CIP is a compaction process in which isostatic fluid pressure is

applied to a powder mass at room temperature to compact it into
desired shape.
• Powder parts can be compacted up to 80-90 % of their theoretical
densities.
• Water or oil can be used as pressuring medium.
Process details: High density near-net shape green parts, long thin walled
cylinders, parts with undercuts can be readily fabricated.

In this process, pressure is applied simultaneously and equally in all

directions using a fluid to an elastomeric fluid with powder at room
temperature.

Sintered CIP component can reach up to 97 % of theoretical density.

STEPS INVOLVED IN CIP
Mould filling Mould pressurization
 Types of cold isostatic pressing
Wet bag process: In this, the mould is directly in contact with the fluid. This
reduces the productivity, since the bag has to be removed every time before
refilling. Tooling costs are reduced in this.

Fixed mould process: the mould is fixed in the pressure vessel and powders
are filled. The tooling has internal channel into which fluid is pumped. This is an
automated process in which the powder filling, compaction, depressurization and
removal of green parts are done continuously. This involves higher tooling cost, but
has higher production rate.
Advantages of CIP:
 Uniform, controlled, reproducible densification of powder;
 long, slender parts can be pressed;
 neat net shape forming;
 short production times;
 economy of operation for complex and large parts.

Applications:
Metallic filters made from bronze, brass, stainless steel, Inconel, Monel, Titanium,
high speed tools, carbide tools.
Also ceramic parts such as sparks plugs and insulators are made by this method.
 Hot isostatic pressing
- HIP is the application of pressure at elevated temperatures to obtain
net or near net shape parts from metal, ceramic, cermet powders.

HIP unit consists of a pressure vessel, high temperature furnace,

pressurizing system, controls and auxiliary systems (material handling,
vacuum pumps, metering pumps).
• The pressure vessel is made of low alloy steel.
• Its function is to heat the powders while applying uniform gas
pressure on all the sides.
• Furnaces are of radiation or convection type heating furnaces with
graphite or molybdenum heating elements. Nichrome is also used.
• Furnace heats the powder part, while pressurizing medium (a gas) is
used to apply a high pressure during the process.

Generally, argon, nitrogen, helium or even air is used as pressurizing

medium.
Ideal method for consolidation of powders of nickel and cobalt base
super alloys, tool steels, maraging steels, titanium alloys, refractory metal
powders, cermets.
It has got variety of applications including bonding of dissimilar
materials, consolidation of plasma coatings, processing hard and soft
magnetic materials etc.
HIP UNIT– used for ceramic material
Schematic of HIP UNIT (cross-section)
HIP presses are available in diameters up to 2m with pressures ranges
from 40 to 300 MPa with temperature range from 500 to 2200 °C.
The processing time can last up to 4 hours depending on the material
and size of the part.

Commonly used heating elements:

Kanthal heating element – up to 1200 °C;
Molybdenum heating element – 1200 to 1700 °C;
Graphite heating element – 2000 to 2600 °C
 Powder rolling
This process involves feeding of powders between rolls to
produce a coherent and brittle green strip.
This green strip is then sintered & re-rolled to obtain a dense,
finished product.

Steps: 1) preparation of green strip,

2) sintering,
3) densification of sintered strip,
4) final cold rolling and annealing
Parameters affecting powder rolling are roll gap, roll diameter, roll
speed, powder characteristics;

Roll gap => large roll gap leads to decrease in green density; very small
roll gap leads to edge cracking;
roll diameter => increase in density and strength with increase in roll dia.
for a given strip thickness;
roll speed => Kept low, 0.3-0.5 m/s;
Powder => irregular powder with rough surfaces provide better strip
density
Applications:
nickel strips for coinage,
nickel-iron strips for controlled expansion properties,
Cu-Ni-Sn alloys for electronic applications,
porous nickel strip for alkaline batteries and fuel cell
applications.
 Sintering
Sintering refers to the heating of the compacted powder perform to a specific
temperature (below the melting temperature of the principle powder particles while
well above the temperature that would allow diffusion between the neighbouring
particles).

Sintering facilitates the bonding action between the individual powder particles and
increase in the strength of the final part. The heating process must be carried out in
a controlled, inert or reducing atmosphere or in vacuum for very critical parts to
prevent oxidation.
Bonding among the powder particles takes places in three
ways:
(1)melting of minor constituents in the powder particles,
(2)diffusion between the powder particles, and
(3)mechanical bonding.

The time, temperature and the furnace atmosphere are the three
critical factors that control the sintering process.
Types of sintering:

a) Solid state sintering

b) Liquid phase sintering
c) Activated sintering
d) Reaction sintering
Solid state sintering –

In this, densification occurs mainly because of atomic

diffusion in solid state.
Liquid phase sintering – The densification in improved by employing a small
amount of liquid phase (1-10% vol).
The liquid phase existing within the powders at the sintering temperature has
some solubility for the solid. Sufficient amount of liquid is formed between the
solid particles of the compact sample.
During sintering, the liquid phase crystallizes at the grain boundaries binding the
grains. During this stage, there is a rapid rearrangement of solid particles leading
to density increase.
In later stage, solid phase sintering occurs resulting in grain coarsening and
densification rate slows down.

Used for sintering of systems like tungsten-copper and copper-tin. Also covalent
compounds like silicon nitride, silicon carbide can be made, that are difficult to
sinter.
Activated sintering – In this, an alloying element called ‘doping’
is added in small amount improves the densification by as
much as 100 times than undoped compact samples.

Example is the doping of nickel in tungsten compacts

Reaction sintering – In this process, high temperature materials
resulting from chemical reaction between the individual constituents,
giving very good bonding.
Reaction sintering occurs when two or more components reacts
chemically during sintering to create final part.

A typical example is the reaction between alumina and titania to form

aluminium titanate at 1553 K which then sinters to form a densified
product.
Stages in solid state sintering (3 stages)
1st stage:
Necks are formed at the contact points between the particles,
which continue to grow.

During this rapid neck growth takes place. Also the pores are
interconnected and the pore shapes are irregular.
2nd stage: In this stage, with sufficient neck growth, the pore channels become
more cylindrical in nature. The curvature gradient is high for small neck size
leading to faster sintering.
With sufficient time at the sintering temperature, the pore eventually becomes
rounded. As the neck grows, the curvature gradient decreases and sintering also
decreases.
This means there is no change in pore volume but with change in pore shape =>
pores may become spherical and isolated.
With continued sintering, a network of pores and a skeleton of solid particle is
formed.
The pores continue to form a connected phase throughout the compact.
3rd or final stage: In this stage, pore channel closure
occurs and the pores become isolated and no longer
interconnected.
Porosity does not change and small pores remain even
after long sintering times.
 Sintering theory
Sintering may involve,
1) single component system
2) multi-component system (involve more than one
phase)
Single component system - self-diffusion is the major material transport
mechanism and the driving force resulting from a chemical potential gradient due
to surface tension and capillary forces between particles

Multi component system - inter-diffusion occurs with the concentration

gradient being the major driving force for sintering in addition to self-diffusion
caused by surface tension and capillary forces. IN this sintering, liquid phase
formation and solid solution formation also occurs with densification.
First theory was proposed by Sauerwald in 1922

Adhesion and recrystallization - Adhesion occurs during

heating due to atomic attraction and recrystallisation occurs at
recrystallisation temperature (above 0.5 Tm).

In recrystallisation, microstructure changes, phase changes,

grain growth, shrinkage occurs.
 Solid state sintering process
Condition for sintering: Densification occurs during sintering and solid
state sintering is carried out at temperatures where material transport due
to diffusion is appreciable.
Surface diffusion is not sufficient, atomic diffusion is required.

This occurs by replacing high energy solid-vapour interfaces with the low
energy solid-solid interface (particle-particle) of free energy.
This reduction in surface energy causes densification.
 Initially free energy of solid-solid interface must be lower
than free energy of solid vapour interface. The process of
sintering will stop if the overall change in free energy of the
system (dE) becomes zero
 Driving force for sintering
• The main driving force is excess surface free energy in solid state sintering. The
surface energy can be reduced by transporting material from different areas by
various material transport mechanisms so as to eliminate pores.

• Material transport during solid state sintering occurs mainly by surface transport,
grain boundary transportation.
This surface transport can be through adhesion, surface diffusion.
Many models available to describe sintering process – like viscous flow, plastic
flow, grain boundary and volume diffusion models.
 Property changes during sintering
• Densification is proportional to the shrinkage or the amount of pores removed
in the case of single component system

• In multicomponent system, expansion rather than shrinkage will result in

densification and hence densification can not be treated as equal to the amount
of porosity removed.

• Densification results in mechanical property change like hardness, strength,

toughness, physical properties like electrical, thermal conductivity, magnetic
properties etc. Also change in composition is expected due to the formation of
solid solution
Sintering atmosphere
Functions of sintering atmosphere:
1. preventing undesirable reactions during sintering,
2. facilitate reduction of surface oxides,
3. facilitating the addition of other sintering and alloying elements which enhance
the sintering rate and promote densification,
4. aiding the removal of lubricants,
5. composition control and adjusting the impurity levels.

Eg. for sintering atmosphere: pure hydrogen, ammonia, reformed hydrocarbon

gases, inert gases, vacuum, nitrogen based mixtures without carburizing addition,
nitrogen based mixtures with carburizing addition
Schematic illustration of sintering of compact preform using
solid-state diffusion between powder particles
Schematic illustration of sintering of compact preform using liquid-
phase transport between powder particles
 Mechanism in solid state sintering
1.Evaporation condensation,
2. diffusion (can be volume diffusion, grain
boundary diffusion, surface diffusion),
3. viscous flow,
4. plastic flow
Finishing Operation

After sintering, some finishing operations such as re-pressing

(to impart dimensional accuracy) and machining are carried
out to further improve the quality of the final part.
Parts made through the powder metallurgy based processes
are also subjected to other finishing operations such as heat
treatment, machining and finishing depending on the
requirements.
 Design for Powder Metallurgy
Design must be such that the part can be ejected from the mould or die.
Parts with straight wall are preferred. No draft should be required for
the ejection of a part from a lubricated die
In designing the part, consideration should be given to the need for the
powder particles to flow properly into all parts of the mould or die.
Therefore, thin walls, narrow splines, or sharp corner should be avoided
(should be thicker than 0.762 mm).
The shape of the part should permit the construction of strong tooling.
Dies and punches should have no sharp edges. Reasonable clearance
must be provided between the top and the bottom dies during
pressing.

Since pressure is not transmitted uniformly through a deep bed of

powder, the length of the part should not exceed about two and half
times of the diameter.
Very close tolerance in the direction of compression should be
avoided.
Shape of the parts should be kept as simple as possible and should
contain with few levels and axial variation. Holes should not be
designed in the direction of pressing
Provide sufficiently wide dimensional tolerance whenever
possible. Wide tolerance means that the part can be made more
economically with a longer tool life.

In designing flat section of high density, enough section thickness

should be provided otherwise the punch may break under pressure.

Parts made through powder metallurgy may be bonded by assembling

in the green condition and then sintering together to form a bond
assembly.
As far as possible, abrupt changes in the section thickness should be
avoided.