Liquid Phase Sintering

Ni-W

A+B
L
Tsint

A
A powder + B powder

LPS as flow through packed bedsthe chemical engineering approach

2R

2r

The space between particles-the interconnected porosity-are pipes. These pipes

have an effective radius (hydraulic radius) given as

( hydraulic_radius )

Void_Volume
Wet ted_Surface_Arae

Example
2R

2r

Compare the hydraulic radius w ith the radius of the ocatahedral site in an FCC pow der pack w ith a
particle radius of
6
R 35 10 m
The lattice parameter of the pow der unit c ell comes f rom the Pythagoream theory
a 4

R
0.5

a 9.899 10

The diameter of the oc tahedral site is the 'lattice parameter' minus 2R

d oct a 2 R
5

d oct 2.899 10

2
R

Example (continued)
Now determine the hydraulic radius
the volume of the voids is the volume of the unit cell - the volume of the 4 pow der
particles per unit cell
4
3
3
Vvoids a R 4
3
13 3

Vvoids 2.518 10

SurfaceArea 4 4 R

8 2

SurfaceArea 6.158 10
Vvoids
Rh
SurfaceArea
6

Rh 4.089 10

doct
2

Rh

3.546

Example (continued)
To determine the extent of liquid metal spreading through the channels in the powder pack during liquid phase
sintering, we take the equation for the average fluid velocity in a pipe and set that equal to the rate of the increase of
the pipe length, L. For an FCC powder pack with particle diameter of 35 um, the hydraulic radius is ~4 um.
Since Capillary action is the driving force for liquid motion in the pipes, the pressure drop is given as

=0.5J/m^2 and the negative curvature as the inverse of the hydraulic radius

Rh . Using

P 0.5

J
2

4 10

3 kg

1.5 10

m s

Rh 4 10

For a horizontal pipe, the spreading rate f or the liquid in the channel is approximated as
the average velocity in a pipe
2

v average

d
( L)
dt

P Rh

L 8

See Gaskell 2.6 and the Die Cast Mold Filling Example

For a horizontal pipe, the spreading rate f or the liquid in the channel is approximated as
the average velocity in a pipe
2

d
( L)
dt

v average

P Rh

L 8

Example (continued)

The time independent terms can be calculated as

2 8
1

const an t P Rh

2
4 m

const an t 3.333 10

The dif f erential equation can be solved numerically using the s olve block in mathcad
Given
L( 0)

d
L( t )
dt

35 10

You need an initial condition, L(0), the legth of L at

time zero. Be sure this is def ined using (control)=.
The dif f erential equation must be given w ithout units. It
is als o def ined using the (control) =.

3.3 10

L( t )

L Odesolve ( t 2)

the Odesolv e is a f unction requiring the independent

variable as the f irst input (t in this case) and the
maximum value of the independent variable (3
seconds in this case).

0.04

L( t ) 0.02

5
t

10

Polycrystalline
particle

Liquid

Grain boundary wetting breaks the

polycrystalline particle into single
crystal particles in the initial stages
of liquid phase sintering. These
single crystal particles then
spheroidize and coarsen.

Youngs Equation
Represent the surface tensions of a multi-phase junction as vectors drawn parallel to the respective surfaces
The surface energies for the for the solid/liquid, the solid/vapor and the liquid/vapor interfaces are sl, sv, lv.
The vectors representing these surface energies must balance at the three phase triple junction. This equation
representing this balance is known as Youngs equation

lv
sv

sl

sv sl cos( )lv

lv
sv

sl

Large sl, non-wetting

Large

lv
sv

sl

Large sv, wetting

small

Grain boundary wetting

during LPS occurs when
A and B approach zero.
Grain B

BL
B

AB

Liquid

AL

Grain A

cos(B) cos(A)
AB

BL

AL