Study on the microwave sintering characteristics of spherical tin-silver alloy powder

Abstract

In this study, the sintering behavior of a tin-silver alloy powder (Sn-3% Ag) is investigated during microwave melting, and a two-sphere model is used to study the main diffusion mechanism of sintering. The effect of microwave on the sintering process, microstructure and composition distribution of alloy was studied. The sintering neck growth of the tin-silver alloy powder suggests that the diffusion process of alloy components has been realized through the viscous flow mechanism during the sintering stage before melting under microwave irradiation. The rapidly heating and melting of tin-silver alloy powder can be realized by microwave heating, and the heating rate can reaches to 153.4 °C•min-1 at microwave power of 1.2 kW. In addition, microwave also showed a good heating effect on the metal melt. Microwave can promote the homogenization of alloy microstructural, and the precipitated phase of the alloy is refined and the element distribution is more uniform under microwave irradiation compared to the traditional process. These technology provides a new way for the preparation and performance improvement of alloy materials.