Forming of micro-components by electrical-field activated sintering

Abstract

Recent research work has been undertaken to investigate the feasibility of forming micro-components by combining Electrical-field activated sintering and micro-forming (Micro-FAST)This paper firstly introduces the Micro-Fast technology and experimental validation method employedCylindrical components were used for the experiments and the sintering and forming was realised by use of a Gleeble 3800 thermal-mechanical simulatorThirteen different types of powders (metallic and ceramic) with variable particle sizes have been formed successfullyThe influential parameters, such as pressure, temperature and heating rate, were studiedFrom the experiment results it is shown that the component quality depends significantly on the pressure, the heating rate and maximum temperature appliedCompared to other sintering technologies, the relatively short forming-cycle time of Micro-Fast (increased heating rate and reduced holding time) makes a good contribution to highly efficient particulate sintering for micro-manufacturing.