Energy-Saving Sintering of Electrically Conductive Powders by Modified Pulsed Electric Current Heating Using an Electrically Nonconductive Die

摘要

Sintering of Cu and thermoelectric Ca_3Co_4O_9 was tried using a modified pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) process, where an electrically nonconductive die was used instead of a conventional graphite die. The pulsed electric current flowed through graphite punches and sample powder, which caused the Joule heating of the powder compact itself, resulting in sintering under smaller power consumption. Especially for the Ca_3Co_4O_9 powder, densification during sintering was also accelerated by this modified PECS process.