Volume changes experienced by Al-Zn compacts during liquid-phase sintering

Conclusions The sintering of compacts from aluminum powders with zinc additions in the presence of a liquid phase is accompanied by their volume growth and a corresponding increase in their porosity. The volume growth of compacts from Al-Zn powder mixtures during liquid-phase sintering is mainly due to the Kirkendall effect, which manifests itself during the formation of a solid solution on the aluminum particles as a result of the diffusion of zinc atoms from the melt to the particles preceding their dissolution in the liquid phase. In general, the porosity of sintered compacts is satisfactorily described by Eq. (1). When, however, the zinc content of a compact does not exceed its limit of solid-phase solubility in aluminum at the sintering temperature, the process of dissolution of aluminum in the melt may be ignored. In such a case the end porosity of compacts is described by Eq. (2) with a correction for shrinkage due to a regrouping of particles. The extent to which the volume of compacts from an Al-Zn powder mixture grows during sintering increases with increasing mean aluminum powder particle size.Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 10 (238), pp. 11–16, October, 1982.