High Current Electro Discharge Sintering (EDS) is a PM technology to consolidate metal and ceramic powders. In this work gas atomized steel powders are compacted using high voltage (3300 V) discharged from a capacitor bank and transformed to high current (up to 4 × 10~6 A). After previous work has concentrated on the diffusion-controlled densification in a short time sintering process [1, 2] this work will focus on the influences of the energy per volume unit being the main consolidation factor. It is shown that the densification is mainly ruled by the power involved. Apparent influences on the energy per volume unit derive from the powders such as grain size, alloying elements and the addition of hard phases. An additional effect of the copper electrode material used is discussed. The energy involved, the powder and the electrode material are discussed with respect to the resulting densification and microstructure.
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