A Laboratory Apparatus for Spark Plasma Sintering of Ceramic and Composite Materials

Abstract

The design of a laboratory apparatus for spark plasma sintering of powder compositions of different compositions and purposes is described. The main active factors of the spark plasma sintering process, the nature and degree of their influence on the mechanism of consolidation of particles of powder mixtures, as well as the structure and properties of the synthesized ceramics are determined. The data on the synthesis of 25.4 mm ceramic disks of samarium monosulfide powder are given. It is shown that the optimization of the synthesis regimes allows one to obtain a compacted material with a density close to the theoretical one and a phase composition identical to the composition of the initial powder mixture.