ABSTRACT
The effects of variables such as grain size, temperature, and applied pressure on sintering are well understood. For powder systems that approach the assumptions of the theoretical models (i.e., homogeneously packed spherical particles with a narrow size distribution), the sintering kinetics can be well described by the models. However, some important issues remain, and these need to be examined in terms of their ability to limit the attainment of high density with controlled microstructure.
