Sintering Behaviors of Coal Fly Ash and NiCr-Based Alloy Mixture Powder Stacked Layer by Layer

Abstract

Coal fly ash and NiCr alloy powder stacked layer by layer (FGM) were prepared by spark plasma sintering. The coal fly ash was produced by Misumi coal thermal power station (Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc.), and 80 mass% nickel and 20 mass% chromium (Fukuda Metal Foil & Powder Co., Ltd) were used as source materials. The sintering was done at 1000°C in a graphite die. X-ray diffraction patterns of the sintered coal fly ash materials indicated that the mullite (3Al2O3 2SiO2) and silica (SiO 2) phases were predominant. Direct joining of coal fly ash and NiCr causes a fracture at the interface due to a mismatch of thermal expansion. Cracks in the FGMs were observed between the two layers when the difference of linear thermal expansion coefficient (α) was over 4.2 × 10 -6 K-1, while no cracks were detected in stable FGMs when the difference was less than 4.0 × 10-6 K-1. © 2008 The Japan Institute of Metals.