Abstract
This chapter describes the properties and performance of powder consolidation. The unique properties of metastable materials may be fully exploited, if powders are densified into bulk parts that retain the initial metastable features. The key characteristic of metastable powder consolidation processes is to achieve densification with minimal microstructural coarsening and/or undesirable microstructural transformations. This requirement places significant restrictions on the consolidation process, particularly high temperature exposure that must be controlled more carefully than in case of regular powders. The consolidation process, densification, or sintering is aimed at transforming the initial powders into bulk materials, with a minimum amount of pores or no pores. The driving force for densification is the tendency to reduce the free surface energy, associated with individual powder particles. The selection of the consolidation method for far-from equilibrium powders depend on the acceptable final degree of metastability, initial powder particle size and conditions, and the available equipment. The success in the consolidation of morphologically metastable powders is intimately related to the control of the competition between densification and coarsening.
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