About this Abstract | 
  
   
    | Meeting | 
    2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
       | 
  
   
    | Symposium 
       | 
    Powder Materials Processing and Fundamental Understanding
       | 
  
   
    | Presentation Title | 
    Effect of Powder Morphology on Densification and Microstructural Gradients of Titanium in Spark Plasma Sintering | 
  
   
    | Author(s) | 
    Alexander   Preston , Kaka  Ma | 
  
   
    | On-Site Speaker (Planned) | 
    Kaka  Ma | 
  
   
    | Abstract Scope | 
    
This study addresses the key role that powder morphology plays in the densification behavior and microstructural gradients that occur in spark plasma sintering. First, a strategy to incorporate mater sintering curves (MSC) into a thermal-electric (TE) finite element modeling (FEM) will be discussed to achieve continuous nodal-specific simulation of the evolution of thermal and electrical properties of the powder compact with respect to both relative density and temperature during sintering. Lab-scale Ti samples (diameter ~ 20 mm) were fabricated for construction and validation of MSC, whereas scaled-up Ti samples (diameter 65~70 mm) were made and characterized to verify the accuracy of the MSC - TE FEM combined model. The verified MSC - TE FEM combined model is then applied to investigate the effect of powder morphology. Key findings reveal that powders having a larger activation energy of sintering exhibit a greater gradient in microstructure.  | 
  
   
    | Proceedings Inclusion? | 
    Planned:  | 
  
 
    | Keywords | 
    Powder Materials, Titanium, Characterization |