ABSTRACT
Mixing and packing of particles are important because chemical and microstructural heterogeneities in the green body limit the ability to control the microstructure during sintering. In ceramic processing, it is often necessary to carry out a mixing step prior to consolidation and sintering of powders. The microstructure and engineering properties of the sintered body depend critically on how well the powders are mixed. The mechanisms of mixing are usually classified into three types: diffusive, shear, and convective mixing. The mixing of different sizes of nonspherical particles also leads to an increase in the packing density, but this packing density is generally lower than for spherical particles. The packing of particles is treated in textbooks by R. M. German and DJ. Cumberland and R. J. Crawford. Particle packing is commonly divided into two types: regular packing and random packing. Dense random packing of monosized spheres has been studied experimentally by shaking hard spheres in a container.
