Microstructure development during liquid-phase sintering

Abstract Microstructure development during liquid-phase sintering has been analysed using the pore-filling theory. The interdependence between sintered density and average grain size, i. e., the relative density–grain size trajectory has been described for various types of processing and sintering parameters. The effects of sintering temperature, initial porosity, average pore size, liquid volume fraction, dihedral and wetting angle, and sintering atmosphere pressure have been evaluated. A critical examination has also been made of the factors determining the trajectory shape and the implication of activation energy for densification. The predicted microstructure developments should demonstrate various possibilities of controlling microstructure during liquid-phase sintering.