SPS Spark plasma sintering furnace

Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is to fill metal and other powders into a mold made of graphite and other materials, and apply a specific sintering power source and pressing pressure to the powder using upper and lower die punches and energized electrodes. Powder is prepared by discharge activation, thermoplastic deformation and cooling for high-performance materials, which is a new powder metallurgy sintering technology. Spark plasma sintering has the characteristics of sintering during the pressurization process, the plasma generated by the pulse current and the pressure during the sintering process are beneficial to reduce the sintering temperature of the powder. The spark plasma sintering method (SPS method) effectively applies the high heat energy of high temperature plasma (discharge plasma) generated by spark discharge to thermal diffusion and electric field diffusion by sending pulsed electrical energy into the gap between the powder particles of the compact. When the temperature is raised to an ultra-high temperature above 2000℃, the "sintering" or "sintering joint" can be completed in a short time of about 5 to 20 minutes. This new technology is different from the traditional "discharge sintering method". It is suitable for a wide variety of materials and can be used to synthesize composite materials including fiber/particle composite materials, functionally gradient materials, and dissimilar materials, as well as metal materials including amorphous alloys, magnetic materials, intermetallic compounds, and cemented carbides. It can also be used to control the structure of porous materials and has a wide application prospect.

Spark plasma sintering is currently one of the most advanced sintering technologies used to prepare functional materials in the world. It is widely used in fast and high-quality sintering of nanomaterials, magnetic materials, electronic materials, fine ceramics, amorphous alloys, hard alloys and composite materials. It is an ideal equipment for research, development and production of new functional materials and an ideal substitute for traditional sintering furnaces. Spark plasma sintering generally adopts the switching pulse direct current heating method to directly heat the material itself for sintering. The direct current pulse acts on the particle level, which can significantly improve the sintering activity of many materials. It has the advantages of fast heating speed, short sintering time, high efficiency and energy saving, and high quality of sintered body. The electrode indenter is an important part of the spark plasma sintering equipment. The electrode indenter of the existing spark plasma sintering equipment is made of one material. Considering the high temperature strength of the electrode indenter, it is generally made of alloy steel. The resistance of steel is large, so the resistance of the electrode indenter is relatively large. When the current passes through the electrode indenter to reach the mold, the electrode indenter will have greater heat loss and be damaged, and the vacuum seal on the electrode indenter will also be damaged due to overheating.