Sound Velocity Measurements in Green-Body Ceramics as a Function of Sintering Temperatures

Sintering mechanisms in ceramic processing are not often well understood.Such knowledge, though, would promote the reliable processing of high-tech ceramics such as varistorZnO or high temperature superconductor ceramics. The present work investigates the use of ultrasonic wave velocity and attenuation measurements at 5.0 MHz as an in-situ probe of the developing material properties of a ceramic during the sintering process. The observed changes in velocity and attenuation of the ultrasonic wave can be used as a tool to identify the microstructural evolution of the ceramic