Optimizing the Parameters of Spark Plasma Sintering to Enhance the Hardness of MgO/TiC Composites

Abstract

In this research, the first work was carried out to manufacture MgO-based metal matrix composite containing 3 wt%. Sintering parameters, such as temperature, pressure, and time were subjected to Taguchi analysis to identify the most significant effect on magnesium oxide physical and mechanical characteristics. The impact of each sintering parameter explores using the analysis of variance-structure and microstructure analysis using XRD and EDS-equipped FE-SEM. The mechanical properties of the composite are evaluated by testing its Rockwell hardness (HR) and Vickers hardness (HV). The results showed that sintering temperature was the most influential of the sintering factors on microhardness. Densification at its peak was 100%, while it peaked at 62.19 Rockwell hardness and 58.7 Vickers hardness.

A High Copper Concentration Copper-Quadrol Complex Electroless Solution for Chip Bonding Applications

“…To design the experiments, the Taguchi method was employed, with each factor divided into three levels to consider nonlinear effects, as presented in Table 2. An L 9 orthogonal array (OA) was selected based on the degrees of freedom, and the design factors and their respective levels were allocated to the resulting matrix, where each row represented a single test in the experimental setup [19][20][21]24]. The plating rate and decomposition time were measured in each experiment.…”

“…In this study, a three-level factorial design with four factors was used. Using an appropriate orthogonal array from the Taguchi method, the study was conducted with only nine experimental runs, reducing the total number of trials from 81 to 9 [19][20][21]. It was assumed that there was no interaction between the operating factors.…”