Abstract
A sintering method for the rapid consolidation of a variety of engineering materials in short time frames (seconds to minutes) is presented with a focus on the manufacturing potential of this novel plasma activated sintering (PAS) process. PAS is a recent innovation pioneered by Sodick in Japan and is currently being used for the production of a number of engineering components, the manufacture of dense magnets by the Matsushita Electric company being a prime example. The versatility of the PAS process allows very quick densification to near theoretical density in a number of metallic, ceramic, and multilayer materials of interest in mechanical, electronic and structural applications. In the present work, we present the essentials of the PAS process, including the experimental conditions, instrumentation, and process modelling aspects of this method. Our results on a wide variety of difficult-to-sinter materials are described along with microstructural characteristics. Finally, we project the future prospect of intelligent manufacturing systems based on PAS technology and particularly outline the design of complex coupled motion controls for PAS systems.
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