The Effect of Rapid Microwave Sintering Process on the Electrical Conductivity, Thermal Conductivity and Mechanical Properties of Al-TiC Composites

Abstract

In this research, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the Al-TiC composites which were sintered via microwave-assisted process were investigated. The specimens were sintered for 3, 5 and 8 minutes. The results have shown that the sample which contains 4 vol. % TiC and was sintered for 8 minutes, has the highest electrical and thermal conductivities among the other obtained ones. Besides that, the sample which contains 8 vol. % TiC and was sintered for 3 minutes, has dedicated the highest hardness and density to itself. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs have illustrated that by increasing the amount of TiC up to 12 vol. %, the agglomeration of particles occurs. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations have shown that due to the short duration of the sintering process in the microwave method, there is no trace of TiO 2 and Al 4 C 3 as pernicious phases. According to the obtained results, it becomes clear that increasing the amount of TiC powder leads to the reduction of electrical and thermal properties of the samples and increasing the sintering duration, leads to the increase of the mentioned properties.

Carbon impact on surface morphology and electrical properties of Cu-TiC thin film

“…The change in resistance with increase in C content depends mainly on the arrangement or distribution of atoms in the film or in their structure [27]. The electrons are bonded firmly with the nucleus in the carbides, so unable to move freely and thus reduce the conductivity [28]. This can be explained further with their XPS analysis in future.…”

“…These could have influenced the decrease of surface resistance across the films. A higher value of ideality factor is commonly observed in the heterostructures of two different materials having large lattice mismatch [28]. This high value may also arise from image force and surface effects such as surface charges and an interfacial dielectric layer between the metal and the semiconductor.…”

Biopolymer-Assisted Manufacturing of Aluminum–Copper Nanoparticle Composites with Enhanced Sinterability

“…The sample with 20 mmol/L PDA shows the highest conductivity of approximately 1.55 × 10 7 S/m, which is comparable to other literature values. For example, Yaghobizadeh et al fabricated Al samples using microwave sintering and reported an electrical conductivity of 1.51 × 10 7 S/m. It is hypothesized that an appropriate amount of PDA can enhance the binding between Al and Cu NPs, while excessive PDA can be detrimental because of the lower conductivity of carbonized PDA than Al …”

“…Sintering aluminum (Al) and alloys is usually difficult because of several challenges, including poor flowability, high thermal diffusivity, surface oxidation layer, etc. − Specifically, an oxide layer spontaneously formed on an Al surface, which is typically a few nanometers thick, ,− can prevent fusion of Al powder particles during a typical sintering practice such as pressureless sintering. Various methods have been used to promote sintering of Al alloys, including the introduction of reducing agents (e.g., H 2 ), spark plasma sintering, and microwave sintering. − Nevertheless, improving the sinterability of the feedstock powders is essential for the successful fabrication of sintered Al components. Powders with better sintering behavior will also benefit various powder-based additive manufacturing processes of Al alloys such as binder jetting, direct paste printing, and selective laser melting/sintering.…”

Progress in aluminium and magnesium matrix composites obtained by spark plasma, microwave and induction sintering

“…There is a possibility that local overheating can lead to rounding of the sharp corners of the particles of the hard phases during a field-assisted sintering process. The structure formation of ceramic particle-reinforced aluminium matrix composites obtained by field-assisted sintering is the subject of recent publications [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. Poor wettability between the metal matrix and the ceramic reinforcement leads to the formation of difficult-toeliminate porosity at the interfaces.…”