In this study, Ni-Y₂O₃ powder was prepared by alloying recomposition oxidation sintering (AROS), solution combustion synthesis (SCS), and conventional mechanical alloying (MA). The microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys were investigated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Among the Ni-Y₂O₃ powders synthesized by the three methods, the AROS powder had approximately 5 nm of Y₂O₃ crystals uniformly distributed within the Ni particles, whereas the SCS powder contained a mixture of Ni and Y₂O₃ nanoparticles, and the MA powder formed small Y₂O₃ crystals on the surface of large Ni particles by milling the mixture of Ni and Y₂O₃. The average grain size of Y₂O₃ in the sintered alloys was approximately 15 nm, with the AROS sinter having the smallest, followed by the SCS sinter at 18 nm, and the MA sinter at 22 nm. The yield strength (YS) of the SCS- and MA-sintered alloys were 1511 and 1688 MPa, respectively, which are lower than the YS value of 1697 MPa for the AROS-sintered alloys. The AROS alloy exhibited improved strength compared to the alloys fabricated by SCS and conventional MA methods, primarily because of the increased strengthening from the finer Y₂O₃ particles and Ni grains.

The effects of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Si alloys fabricated by high-energy ball milling (HEBM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) were investigated. The HEBM-free sintered alloy primarily contained Mg₂Si, Q-AlCuMgSi, and Si phases. Meanwhile, the HEBM-sintered alloy contains Mg-free Si and θ-Al₂Cu phases due to the formation of MgO, which causes Mg depletion in the Al matrix. Annealing without and with HEBM at 500°C causes partial dissolution and coarsening of the Q-AlCuMgSi and Mg₂Si phases in the alloy and dissolution of the θ-Al₂Cu phase in the alloy, respectively. In both alloys, a thermally stable α-AlFeSi phase was formed after long-term heat treatment. The grain size of the sintered alloys with and without HEBM increased from 0.5 to 1.0 μm and from 2.9 to 6.3 μm, respectively. The hardness of the sintered alloy increases after annealing for 1 h but decreases significantly after 24 h of annealing. Extending the annealing time to 168 h improved the hardness of the alloy without HEBM but had little effect on the alloy with HEBM. The relationship between the microstructural factors and the hardness of the sintered and annealed alloys is discussed.

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• Microstructural evolution and thermal stability of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Si–Zr alloy fabricated via spark plasma sintering
  Junho Lee, Seonghyun Park, Sang-Hwa Lee, Seung Bae Son, Hanjung Kwon, Seok-Jae Lee, Jae-Gil Jung
  Journal of Materials Research and Technology.2024; 31: 205.     CrossRef

Molybdenum-tungsten (Mo-W) alloy sputtering targets are widely utilized in fields like electronics, nanotechnology, sensors, and as gate electrodes for TFT-LCDs, owing to their superior properties such as hightemperature stability, low thermal expansion coefficient, electrical conductivity, and corrosion resistance. To achieve optimal performance in application, these targets’ purity, relative density, and grain size of these targets must be carefully controlled. We utilized nanopowders, prepared via the Pechini method, to obtain uniform and fine powders, then carried out spark plasma sintering (SPS) to densify these powders. Our studies revealed that the sintered compacts made from these nanopowders exhibited outstanding features, such as a high relative density of more than 99%, consistent grain size of 3.43 μm, and shape, absence of preferred orientation.

Metal-additive manufacturing techniques, such as selective laser sintering (SLS), are increasingly utilized for new biomaterials, such as cobalt-chrome (Co-Cr). In this study, Co-Cr gas-atomized powders are used as charge materials for the SLS process. The aim is to understand the consolidation of Co-Cr alloy powder and characterization of samples sintered using SLS under various conditions. The results clearly suggest that besides the matrix phase, the second phase, which is attributed to pores and oxidation particles, is observed in the sintered specimens. The as-built samples exhibit completely different microstructural features compared with the casting or wrought products reported in the literature. The microstructure reveals melt pools, which represent the characteristics of the scanning direction, in particular, or of the SLS conditions, in general. It also exposes extremely fine grain sizes inside the melt pools, resulting in an enhancement in the hardness of the as-built products. Thus, the hardness values of the samples prepared by SLS under all parameter conditions used in this study are evidently higher than those of the casting products.

In this study, an Al₈₂Ni₇Co₃Y₈ (at%) bulk metallic glass is fabricated using gas-atomized Al₈₂Ni₇Co₃Y₈ metallic glass powder and subsequent spark plasma sintering (SPS). The effect of powder size on the consolidation of bulk metallic glass is considered by dividing it into 5 μm or less and 20–45 μm. The sintered Al₈₂Ni₇Co₃Y₈ bulk metallic glasses exhibit crystallization behavior and crystallization enthalpy similar to those of the Al₈₂Ni₇Co₃Y₈ powder with 5 μm or less and it is confirmed that no crystallization occurred during the sintering process. From these results, we conclude that the Z-position-controlled spark plasma sintering process, using superplastic deformation by viscous flow in the supercooled liquid-phase region of amorphous powder, is an effective process for manufacturing bulk metallic glass.

We investigate the austenite stability in nanocrystalline Fe-7%Mn-X%Mo (X = 0, 1, and 2) alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering. Mo is known as a ferrite stabilizing element, whereas Mn is an austenite stabilizing element, and many studies have focused on the effect of Mn addition on austenite stability. Herein, the volume fraction of austenite in nanocrystalline Fe-7%Mn alloys with different Mo contents is measured using X-ray diffraction. Using a disk compressive test, austenite in Fe–Mn–Mo alloys is confirmed to transform into strain-induced martensite during plastic deformation by a disk d. The variation in austenite stability in response to the addition of Mo is quantitatively evaluated by comparing the k-parameters of the kinetic equation for the strain-induced martensite transformation.

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has a low thermal conductivity, high thermal expansion coefficient, and excellent mechanical properties; thus, it is used as a thermal barrier coating material for gas turbines. However, during long-time exposure of YSZ to temperatures of 1200°C or higher, a phase transformation accompanied by a volume change occurs, causing the YSZ coating layer to peel off. To solve this problem, YSZ has been doped with trivalent and tetravalent oxides to obtain coating materials with low thermal conductivity and suppressed phase transformation of zirconia. In this study, YSZ is doped with trivalent oxides, Nd₂O₃, Yb₂O₃, Al₂O₃, and tetravalent oxide, TiO₂, and the thermal conductivity of the obtained materials is analyzed according to the composition; furthermore, the relative density change, microstructure change, and m-phase formation behavior are analyzed during long-time heat treatment at high temperatures.

3Y-TZP ceramics obtained by doping 3 mol.% of Y₂O₃ to ZrO₂ to stabilize the phase transition are widely used in the engineering ceramic industry due to their excellent mechanical properties such as high strength, fracture toughness, and wear resistance. An additional increase in mechanical properties is possible by manufacturing a composite in which a high-hardness material such as oxide or carbide is added to the 3Y-TZP matrix. In this study, composite powder was prepared by dispersing a designated percentage of WC in the 3Y-TZP matrix, and the results were compared after manufacturing the composite using the different processes of spark plasma sintering and HP. The difference between the densification behavior and porosity with the process mechanism was investigated. The correlation between the process conditions and phase formation was examined based on the crystalline phase formation behavior. Changes to the microstructure according to the process conditions were compared using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The toughness-strengthening mechanism of the composite with densification and phase formation was also investigated.

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• Phase Formation and Mechanical Property of YSZ‒30 vol.% WC Composite Ceramics Fabricated by Hot Pressing
  Jin-Kwon Kim, Jae-Hyeong Choi, Nahm Sahn, Sung-Soo Ryu, Seongwon Kim
  journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2023; 30(5): 409.     CrossRef

Changes in the mechanical properties and microstructure of an IN 939 W alloy according to the sintering heating rate were evaluated. IN 939 W alloy samples were fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The phase fraction, number density, and mean radius of the IN 939W alloy were calculated using a thermodynamic calculation. A universal testing machine and micro-Vickers hardness tester were employed to confirm the mechanical properties of the IN 939W alloy. X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Cs-corrected-field emission transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry were used to evaluate the microstructure of the alloy. The rapid sintering heating rate resulted in a slightly dispersed γ' phase and chromium oxide. It also suppressed the precipitation of the η phase. These helped to reinforce the mechanical properties.