Electromagnetic radio frequency heating in the pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) process

Pulsed electric current sintering offers rapid sintering of many materials compared with hot press sintering. Earlier studies had demonstrated that neither sparks nor plasma formation occur in a typical apparatus such as Dr. Sinter((TM)). Hitchcock et al. showed that electromagnetic radio frequency (rf) emission occurred during the pulsing current and suggested this emission was a relevant augmentation to the hot press sintering in addition to the current flow in the specimen. In this report the importance of rf emission in the sintering process is demonstrated and opportunities to further exploit this approach to improve the sintering process are suggested.