Preface
Chapter 1: Overview of Conventional Sintering
Introduction.- Global Driving Forces.- Local Driving Forces.- Sintering, Coalescence and Grain Growth.- Pore Stability.- Sintering Mechanisms: Kinetic Control.- An Unfinished Story.- Summary
Chapter 2: Modelling nano-effects in sintering
Introduction.- Densification Law.- Nonlinear Relation Between Stress and Strain Rate.- A Molecular Dynamics Study of Sintering.- Coarsening Law.- Pre-sintering Agglomeration.- Closing of Large Pores.- Concluding Remarks
Chapter 3: Nanoscaled Grain Growth
Introduction.- Classical Equation for Grain Growth.- Grain Boundary Segregation and Grain Growth.- Kinetics of Grain Growth for Nanomaterials.- GB Segregation and Solute Drag.- Drag Forces Arising from GB Segregation.- Thermodynamics of Grain Growth for Nanomaterials.- GB Segregation and Reduced GB Energy.- Models of GB Energy Reduced by Solute Segregation.- Thermo-Kinetic Analysis for Grain Growth.- Reduced GB Energy and GB Mobility upon Grain Growth.- Thermo-Kinetic Treatment.- Thermodynamic and Kinetic Nano-scale Analysis.- Models of GB Energy Reduced by Solute Segregation.- Summary
Chapter 4: Effect of Powder Characteristics on Nanosintering
Introduction.- Controlled Synthesis of Nanopowders.- Top-Down Methods.- Bottom-Up Methods.- Phase Effects.- Amorphous Phases.- Methastable Phase Transformations.- Multi-Phase Considerations.- Sub-Stoichiometry.- Chemical Purity.- Precursor and Processing.- Surface Impurities.- Grain Boundary Impurities.- Size Effects.- Crystallite Size Effects.- Aggregation and Agglomeration Effects.- Agglomerates formed from Soft Agglomeration.- Aggregates formed from Hard Agglomeration.- Particle-Size Distribution.- Morphology.- Forming Techniques and Drying Processes.- Green-Body Microstructure.- Tying it Together.- Summary
Chapter 5: Discrete Element Method Sintering Simulation: A grain-scale simulation approach
Introduction.- DEM Simulation Method.- Equations of Motion.- Sintering Force Laws.- Boundary Conditions.- Initial Configurations Generation Scheme.- Effects of Rearrangement.- Densification Rate.- Bulk and Shear Viscosities.- Crack Formation.- Grain Growth Models.- Nanoparticle Sintering of Printed Circuits.- Summary
Chapter 6: Sintering of Porous Materials
Introduction.- Fundamentals of Sintering and Porosity Control.- Nanoparticle-Based Sintering.- Nanoparticle-Based Porous Materials.- Partial Sintering.- Template Method.- Reaction Sintering.- Nanoparticle-Based Porous Composites.- Nanoparticles as Initial Materials.- Nanoparticles as Second Phases.- Unique Nanocomposite Systems.- Summary
Chapter 7: Electric Field and Current Effects on Sintering
Introduction.- Effect of Electric Field on Mass Transport.- Field Effects on Reactivity and Diffusion.- Field Effect on Grain Boundary Mobility.- Observations on the Effect of an Electric Field on Sintering.- Observations on the Effect of a Field on Consolidation and Mass Transport.- Defect Formation, Mass Transport, and Phase Transformation.- Effect of Disorder-Order Transformations.- Consolidation of Nanostructured Functional Oxides using SPS.- Summary
Chapter 8: Field Assisted Sintering Mechanisms
Introduction.- Arc and Spark Discharge.- Electromigration.- Brief Review of Electromigration Theory.- Electromigration and Solid State Reactivity.- Electromigration in FAST.- Electrotransport and Polarization in Ionic Materials.- Electrochemical Transport and Related Phenomena.- Dielectric Polarization.- Concluding Remarks on Electrotransport and Related Phenomena.- Pressure Effects and FAST/SPS Processing.- Basic Principles of Pressure Assisted Sintering.- Energetics of Pressure Sintering.- Field Effects and Pressure.- Heating Rate Effects.- Kinetics and Driving Force During Sintering.- Reactive Sintering.- Thermodiffusion
Chapter 9: Effects of Applied Stress and Heating Rate in Field Assisted Sintering
Effect of Applied Stress.- Theoretical Framework.-Experimental Conditions.- Review: Densification Mechanisms.- Review: Grain Growth Behavior.- High Pressure Experiments.- Effect of Heating Rate.- Summary
Chapter 10: Characterization of Microstructures Before, During and After Densification
Introduction.- Microstructural Characterization.- Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).- Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).- In sity Electron Microscopy.- Segregation in Nanoparticles.- Anisotropic Grain Growth in Si3N4.- Thermal Sintering in TEM.- Current-assisted Sintering in the TEM.- Summary and Conclusions
