Beyond the Sintering Challenge: From Conventional to Field-Assisted Sintering

Dear Colleagues,

In powder technologies, sintering stands out as one of the most crucial processes for producing high-performance parts with the desired microstructure, phases, grain size, and properties. Conventional (pressure-less) sintering remains highly relevant for mass production in powder metallurgy, oxide ceramics, and the fabrication of refractories at high temperatures with sintering additives. However, with the emergence of green-based additive manufacturing methods such as fused filament fabrication, robocasting, stereolithography, and binder jetting, conventional sintering encounters new challenges. The high organic content necessitates challenging debinding, while layer structures, sintering anisotropy, and bioinspired structures (lattices) for supports or internal shape filling require innovative engineering developments.

The sintering challenge extends to field-assisted sintering (FAST), representing another significant topic that reduces sintering temperature and accelerates heating and sintering to produce unique phases or advanced nanosized microstructures. Spark plasma sintering is widely used, enabling the sintering of nearly all materials, from metallic phases challenging forging mechanical properties to the fabrication of binder-less ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs). Adjusting the configuration using FAST methods can reduce the sintering time to mere seconds while preserving interesting submicronic microstructures. In addition to flash (ultrarapid) sintering, ultrafast high-temperature sintering (UHS) has emerged as a promising process for producing thin shapes while allowing for interesting coupling with 3D printing. The sintering challenge in the FAST process also involves controlling heating and sintering homogeneity, requiring the development of advanced multi-physics simulation tools tailored to each of these emerging processes. The physicochemical aspect of sintering also poses significant challenges in emerging cold sintering processes, offering high potential for materials with limited grain growth and unique metastable phases.

This Special Issue focuses on the aspect of sintering, exploring how to overcome the challenges it presents to facilitate the production of advanced materials and enable the fabrication of complex shapes. Articles which focus on sintering models and simulations are welcomed, as are contributions on processes closely related to final sintering results, such as drying, debinding, and additive manufacturing methods.

Contributions should be focused on sintering science exclusively; pure synthesis topics are outside the scope of this Special Issue.

Contributions include, but are not limited to, the following topics: 

• Powder metallurgy;
• Conventional sintering;
• Sintering of additively manufactured green shapes;
• Field-assisted sintering;
• Spark plasma sintering;
• Hot (isostatic) pressing;
• Flash (ultrarapid) sintering;
• Ultrafast high-temperature sintering;
• Microwave sintering;
• Sintering modeling and simulation of the sintering processes;
• Selective laser sintering;
• Drying and debinding effect on sintering.

Dr. Charles Manière
Guest Editor

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