Effect of particle size on densification of copper powder during electric-field activated sintering for micro-scale forming

Huang, Kunlan and Qin, Yi and Yang, Yi; Rehman, Fayyaz and Woodfine, Nicholas and Marasini, Ramesh, eds. (2014) Effect of particle size on densification of copper powder during electric-field activated sintering for micro-scale forming. In: Advances in Manufacturing Technology XXVIII. Southampton Solent University, GBR. ISBN 9780992695842

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Abstract

A novel Micro-forming technology, called electric-field activated sintering for micro-scale forming (Micro-FAST), was introduced for the forming of micro-components. The effect of particle size on densification is revealed for copper powder being sintered under the influence from electrical field and force-field during forming of micro-components. Three kinds of copper powders of different particle sizes ((i) average particle size of 0.5μm; (ii) average particle size of 30μm and (iii) the mixture powders with 20% weight of 30μm and 80% weight of 0.5μm) with no binder were used for the experiments. The results show that the density of the compact sintered with mixed copper powders is the largest due to more volume of liquid phase was formed in the particle's contacts. The result being in correspondence with the analytical results of computer simulation. The new understanding developed would help to better quality control during the sintering of micro-components.