ABSTRACT
Sintering or densification is an irreversible thermodynamic phenomenon to convert unstable packed powder having excess free energy to stable sintered agglomerates. The sintering phenomenon involves the fusion of particles, volume reduction, decrease in porosity, and increase in grain size. Sintering kinetics have been studied by many investigators from both experimental and theoretical points of view. Crystalline particles usually contain dislocations at the surface, created while they were produced. These dislocations are moved or recovered at an initial stage of sintering to form a neck at the contact point of particles. The principal mass transfer depends on the composition of the material, sintering conditions, and the sintering step. Sintering mechanisms of amorphous materials such as glass and resine are usually controlled by plastic flow. Sintering is an important process to determine the size distribution of nanoparticles synthesized via building-up process. The sintering process of mixed materials depends primarily on wettability between particles of different types.
