This work studies the influence of anisothermal iron sintering process on hollow cathode discharge characteristics. Two independent cathodes form an annular discharge. The pressed cylindrical iron powder sample, acting as central cathode, was placed concentrically in the interior of an external cathode. The external cathode, machined from an AISI 310 steel bar, besides acting to confine the geometry of the plasma, can also acts as a source of alloying elements. The sample heating is a function of the ion bombardment energy and, so, of the discharge electrical parameters: current (or current density) and the effective potential applied to the cathode. Successive anisothermal sintering is performed in a same sample until the reproducibility of the electrical parameters being obtained. The heating experiments up to 1250 °C, in a gas mixture of 80% Ar + 20% H2, at pressure of 133 Pa, at flow of 2xlO"6 mV, with an inter-cathode radial space of 5.8 mm, were carried out. It was verified the metallurgical evolution of the iron sample sintering process influences the current-?0n (time switched-on of the pulse) characteristics of the discharge.
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