ECE Testing Equipment
Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS)
This Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS) system is a hot pressing system which heats the sample and die by
sending a pulsed electric current through the die and sample. This strongly localizes the heating, and provides
rapid heating of the sample. The result of such a configuration is the rapid fabrication of pressed samples in
minutes as opposed to hours. This helps to minimize grain growth during pressing, and can result in improved
mechanical and electrical properties of the samples.
Such systems are often referred to as spark plasma sintering (SPS) systems. Although there is evidence that the
current flow through samples can strongly influence the microstructure of certain samples, there is little to no
evidence of either sparks, or plasma generation at the grain boundaries [1, 2].
Applications
PECS is effective for pressing powder materials which can be electrically conductive, or insulating without the
use of binders. As the grain size of a material decreases, the strength is known to increase (up to some limit).
Thus a smaller grain size is advantageous for increasing strength of samples. Sintering samples at high temperatures
for a long time can cause grain growth within samples, however with the relatively fast process of PECS, this grain
growth can be minimized. The advantage of short run times also allows for a larger number of sample variations to be
investigated in the same amount of time.
PECS has been effectively used for the fabrication of functionally graded materials and samples with near net shapes
(through proper design of the dies used).
System and Experiments
This Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS) system from
Thermal Technology, LLC
was purchased through the generous support of the
Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Priority for use of this system is given to ONR sponsored research first. Any publications or presentations resulting from the use of this
system should include in the Acknowledgements section:
We wish acknowledge use of the Office of Naval Research DURIP supported Pulsed Electric Current Sintering System at
Michigan State University.
Reference
1. D. M. Hulbert, A. Anders, J. Andersson, E. J. Lavernia, A. K. Mukherjee, A discussion on the absence of plasma
in spark plasma sintering, Scripta Materialia, vol. 60, pp. 835838, (2009).
2. Z. A. Munir, U. Anselmi-Tamburini, M. Ohyanagi, The effect of electric field and pressure on the
synthesis and consolidation of materials: A review of the spark plasma sintering method, Journal of Materials
Science, vol. 41, pp. 763-777, (2006).