Analytical models for initial and intermediate stages of sintering of additively manufactured stainless steel

In isotropic pressure-less sintering continuum mechanics models, densification kinetics is driven by the balance between the effective sintering stress and bulk viscosity. In components manufactured by binder jetting (BJ), the green structure created by the arrangement of spherical powder particles during printing is characterized by its high porosity (40–50%). This leads to a wide porosity range for the initial and intermediate sintering stages, where a complex combination of diffusion mechanisms drives matter redistribution through the porous compact. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of the porosity effect on the resistance to densification of 316L BJ during sintering was performed by avoiding other highly influencing factors like δ-ferrite phase transformation. Different normalized bulk moduli expressions, inspired by Skorohod, Hsueh, and Abouaf sintering models, are used in the framework of the continuum theory of sintering. A new material constants determination algorithm based on the sintering experiments design and non-linear analysis of the model was proposed. This evidenced the critical importance of the experimental data collection for the determination of the required sintering model constants. Accordingly, material shear viscosity and normalized bulk viscosity constants were successfully determined based on dilatometry and grain size experimental data. The bulk moduli proposed comprise physical parameters which depend on the interparticle stress distribution or the initial high reactivity of the BJ compacts. The variation of powder size distribution and/or arrangement would potentially impact the determination of these constants in the normalized bulk moduli

Investigation of the Effect of Microstructure on the R-Curve Behavior of Metal-Ceramic Composites

An investigation was made into the effect of microstructure on the peak toughness and shape of the crack growth resistance curves for two ceramic-metal composites. An Al{sup 2}O{sup 3}/Al composite formed by Reactive Metal Penetration was used along with an AlN/Al composite formed using a reactive infiltration technique. The results indicate that the toughness increases with an increase in the volume fraction of the metal phase for a particular composite composition, and the peak toughness and shape of the R-Curve also depend on the composite microstructure and metal composition

Challenges in Ceramic Science: A Report from the Workshop on Emerging Research Areas in Ceramic Science

In March 2012, a group of researchers met to discuss emerging topics in ceramic science and to identify grand challenges in the field. By the end of the workshop, the group reached a consensus on eight challenges for the future:—understanding rare events in ceramic microstructures, understanding the phase-like behavior of interfaces, predicting and controlling heterogeneous microstructures with unprecedented functionalities, controlling the properties of oxide electronics, understanding defects in the vicinity of interfaces, controlling ceramics far from equilibrium, accelerating the development of new ceramic materials, and harnessing order within disorder in glasses. This paper reports the outcomes of the workshop and provides descriptions of these challenges

Effect of drying conditions on patterned ceramic films processed by soft micromolding

A soft lithography technique was used to create patterned green ceramic films including micrometric voids of well-defined geometry. A PDMS mold was filled by high solid content aqueous suspension (40–52% vol.) and the process quality as well as the film green density were evaluated through SEM and non-contact profilometry. Drying is a critical step, as limited shrinkage was observed due to wetting of the elastomer by water. The drying conditions were optimized in order to increase the homogeneity and green packing of the structured films. Controlled geometry features of high aspect ratio were produced down to the micrometer scale. There are many technological uses of patterned films. In this study, we have used this approach to introduce controlled flaws and investigate constrained sintering and crack growth

Effect of Green-State Processing on the Sintering Stress and Viscosity of Alumina Compacts

Uniaxial viscosity and sintering stress of pressure filtrated alumina compacts were evaluated from sinter-forging measurements. At a particular density, significantly higher values of sintering stresses are observed compared with specimens made by uniaxial dry pressing followed by cold isostatic pressing. In addition, the uniaxial viscosity at a given density is lower for the pressure-filtrated samples. These differences may be explained by a more homogeneous microstructure and finer pore size and emphasize the importance of green density and packing on the evolution of the constitutive parameters for crystalline materials

FEM Modeling of In-Plane Stress Distribution in Thick Brittle Coatings/Films on Ductile Substrates Subjected to Tensile Stress to Determine Interfacial Strength

The ceramic-metal interface is present in various material structures and devices that are vulnerable to failures, like cracking, which are typically due to their incompatible properties, e.g., thermal expansion mismatch. In failure of these multilayer systems, interfacial shear strength is a good measure of the robustness of interfaces, especially for planar films. There is a widely-used shear lag model and method by Agrawal and Raj to analyse and measure the interfacial shear strength of thin brittle film on ductile substrates. The use of this classical model for a type of polymer derived ceramic coatings (thickness ~18 μm) on steel substrate leads to high values of interfacial shear strength. Here, we present finite element simulations for such a coating system when it is subjected to in-plane tension. Results show that the in-plane stresses in the coating are non-uniform, i.e., varying across the thickness of the film. Therefore, they do not meet one of the basic assumptions of the classical model: uniform in-plane stress. Furthermore, effects of three significant parameters, film thickness, crack spacing, and Young’s modulus, on the in-plane stress distribution have also been investigated. ‘Thickness-averaged In-plane Stress’ (TIS), a new failure criterion, is proposed for estimating the interfacial shear strength, which leads to a more realistic estimation of the tensile strength and interfacial shear strength of thick brittle films/coatings on ductile substrates

Constrained Sintering of Alumina Thin Films: Comparison Between Experiment and Modeling

Alumina thin films deposited by dip coating on alumina substrates were sintered between 1150° and 1350°C. A new measuring system using a rocking arm as a mechanical amplifier allows in situ measurement of the shrinkage of the film. Comparison of experimental densification behavior with the predictions of the isotropic continuum mechanics model (using values of constitutive parameters determined by sinter forging) highlights the inadequacy of the isotropic models. These results, together with other published evidence, provide justification to consider anisotropic models