High heating rate effects in sintering: A phase-field study of La-doped alumina

TL;DR

This study uses a novel phase-field model to simulate high heating rate sintering of La-doped alumina, revealing microstructural evolution and sintering front dynamics, aiding in optimizing energy-efficient manufacturing processes.

Contribution

It introduces a multiphysics phase-field simulation with a new particle-based temperature model for high heating rate sintering, capturing microstructural changes and sintering front progression.

Findings

Simulation aligns with experimental density data without parameter tuning.

First demonstration of sintering front evolution with grain growth effects in simulations.

Model can inform practical heating schedule design for new materials.

Abstract

Sintering is a widespread manufacturing process, accounting for a significant portion of global energy expenditure. However, controlling this process has been mostly a trial-and-error process, being costly in both time and money. The recent advance of high heating rate sintering methods, which promise higher energy efficiency and better properties, only adds to this. This paper aims to reduce these costs by shedding light on the microstructural evolution during high heating rate sintering, which will allow for quicker parameter optimization and improved properties. The focus will be on how a representative microstructure changes locally as well as globally while resolving grains and the green body at scale, which no prior paper has done. A representative multiphysics phase-field solver is employed, incorporating a novel particle-based temperature model, which recovered many characteristics typical of high heating rate sintering. Comparing the simulation data to experimental data showed reasonable agreement over a large density range without parameter adjustment. Furthermore, the advance of a sintering front including grain growth effects could be shown simulatively for the first time in literature. These findings suggest that the model can be used for the design of practical heating schedules for the sintering of novel materials.