抄録
The main object of this study is to examine the sintering behavior of pure materials in low pressure plasmas. Here, Mo, Al2O3, and Si3N4 were chosen as examples of metallic, ionic, and covalent materials. The compacts were heated in a radio frequency inductively coupled plasma under low pressure, N2, H2, Ar, and H2+Ar. The effects of the powder type and the plasma conditions were examined on the phase transition, the microstructural change, the loss of weight, and the shrinkage. The Mo powder compact can be sintered to 94.5%, and Al2O3 of 0.1μm powder can be sintered rapidly within 60s to 96% of the theoretical density. Si3N4 was found to be very difficult to sinter macroscopically and no appreciable shrinkage took place at this stage. These experimental results show that the plasma-compact interaction plays an important role in the specimen heating.
