This paper describes an appliance that allows to visually observe phenomena occurring in the studied materials during heating, from room temperature to 600°C. The design criteria and device construction are described in details. The device allows for visual observation of physical phenomena of various material types, e.g., organic matter, polymers, and even observation of sintering mechanisms. Analysis of lubricant evaporation from powder metals (an aluminum alloy) in different atmospheres is shown. The featured device can also be used for interpretation of material defects. This is presented on the example of heating the aluminum alloy in an atmosphere containing oxygen (to simulate a furnace leakage). In addition, the influence of experimental atmosphere on melting and sintering processes is demonstrated. Another application of the presented device can be the visual observation of differences between combustion and pyrolysis processes. Our results show that the presented device is complementary with an advanced thermoanalysis apparatus which, in turn, does not allow visual observation of samples.

Alumix 431D pre-alloyed powder (ECKA Granules GmbH) containing 1.5 mass% of Acrawax C was used to study the effect of nitrogen flow rate on delubrication and sintering evolution. Mass loss of compacts during heating was controlled by the TG method using a STA Netzsch apparatus coupled with a mass spectrometer. The latter was used to identify the volatile lubricant's decomposition products. Macro-and microstructural observations of sintered compacts were also performed. The results documented a strong influence of nitrogen flow rate on delubrication and thus on the sintering behaviour of examined powder. High nitrogen flow rate is required to produce the desired sintered compacts. In contrast, at low nitrogen velocity, the lubricant removal is not complete, which leads to the formation of carbonaceous residuals in the form of soot, which in turn significantly impedes densification and deteriorates the sintered products.

This paper presents the results of density measurements carried out on Alumix sintered parts. ECKA Alumix aluminium powders were used because of their wide application in the powder metallurgy industry. The compacts were produced using a wide range of compaction pressures for three different chemical compositions. The compacts were then sintered under a pure dry nitrogen atmosphere at three different temperatures. The heating and cooling rates were the same throughout the entire test. The results showed that the green density increases with compaction pressure, but that sintered density is independent of green density (compaction pressure) for each sintering temperature.

ECKA Granules Alumix 431D commercial grade, press ready, pre-alloyed aluminium-based powder containing 1.5 mass% of Acrawax C was used to study the effect of nitrogen linear flow on de-lubrication and sintering densification. In situ dimensional changes were controlled by dilatometry. Microstructural observations of sintered compacts were also performed. The results clearly showed the strong influence of nitrogen linear flow on de-lubrication, and thus on the sintering behaviour of the examined powder. High nitrogen linear flow is required to produce the desired sintered microstructure—characterised by residual porosity. In contrast, at low nitrogen velocity, the lubricant removal is not complete, which in turn significantly impedes densification.