SIMULATION OF ELECTRICAL HEATING, DENSIFICATION AND GRAIN GROWTH DURING HIGH-SPEED SINTERING UNDER PRESSURE OF BORON CARBIDE-BASED MATERIALS

Abstract

Computer modeling of electroheating, densification, and grain growth during high-speed sintering under pressure (HSSP) of the boron carbide based materials was performed. The computer densification model is based on the Skorokhod–Olevsky–Stern theory of compaction of porous materials and takes into account the kinetics of grain growth during sintering. To determine the parameters of the model the results of experiments were used. According to the simulation results, it is shown that the duration of the densification process during of HSSP is several times shorter compared to the duration of densification during SPS-process. In addition, it is shown that by creating additional heat sources on the surfaces of the sintering sample, it is possible to significantly reduce the inhomogeneity of the temperature field in it and the duration of the densification process of the entire sample. The computer model and simulation results can be used to predict physical fields in powder material sintering facilities and to study sintering processes.