Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) System

As a new and effective rapid sintering technology, spark plasma sintering (SPS) has been applied to the research and development of many kinds of materials. It combines the advantages of plasma activation and hot pressing, such as fast heating rate, short sintering time, rapid cooling, adjustable external pressure, controllable atmosphere, energy saving and environmental protection. It has been widely used in the preparation of a series of new materials such as magnetic materials, functionally gradient materials, nanoceramics, fiber-reinforced ceramics and metal matrix composites.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of spark plasma sintering

Technical Principle

This technology is a new technology in which the pulse current is directly applied between the pressurized powder particles, the plasma generated at the moment of spark discharge is heated, and the short-time sintering at low temperature is carried out by using the field effect and thermal effect. SPS uses the method of DC pulse current power on and pressure sintering and controls the process by controlling the current, pulse duty cycle, atmosphere, pressure of the head, stroke and other parameters.

Different from traditional sintering, SPS can achieve rapid heating by self-heating, which makes it possible to complete the densification process without degradation of the original characteristics. Therefore, SPS can sinter amorphous/nanocrystalline materials and complete the sintering process before they grow up. SPS also has a wide range of applications in sintering functionally gradient materials, including sintering bonding between different metals or between metals and nonmetals, such as joining alumina ceramics and metals. In the aspect of energy conversion, SPS has a certain potential in the preparation of bite modules, Seebeck thermoelectric semiconductor chips, SiGe, FeSi, Si Mn and other materials. SPS can also be used for rapid solidification sintering of AlSi and Al powders. The nanoparticle size of this material is easy to produce grain growth and difficult to sinter. By SPS sintering, these materials can be rapidly densified from the powder state in a few minutes, avoiding grain growth. The relative density is close to 100% after sintering, and the nanostructure can be maintained at the same time.

Figure 2. SPS equipment developed and produced by Shanghai Haoyue

The SPS equipment developed and produced by Shanghai Haoyue Electric Furnace Technology Co., Ltd. has reliable performance, safety and energy saving, and a high degree of automation. The equipment is mainly composed of a furnace body, furnace frame, vacuum system, gas charging device, pressure system, mold, water cooling system, pulse DC power supply, control system and safety protection system. It has the following characteristics:

1. The sintering temperature, pressure control and current control of the sintering system can realize automatic program control system control.

2. Equipped with a safe shutdown function, when monitoring or detecting abnormal water temperature, mold damage and other emergencies, the equipment will automatically stop, the equipment is safe and reliable.

3. Equipped with a data acquisition and analysis system, the process parameters that determine the quality of sinter products, such as sintering voltage, current, control temperature, applied pressure, displacement, vacuum degree, displacement change rate, and measured temperature, can be saved and transferred to track the production process.

4. A large LCD touch control panel is adopted to diagnose and confirm the displacement data, linkage interlock and other status display, alarm display, alarm record, and pressurization pressure setting value at any time.

Figure 3. Pressure head of graphite mould and equipment in the SPS system

The mold used in the spark plasma sintering (SPS) equipment is generally graphite mold, which can withstand high pressure. There is a through hole on one side of the mold, which can insert a temperature thermocouple. The equipment generally adopts unidirectional pressure, and there is a through hole on the fixed side, which can be installed with an infrared thermometer. By using a thermocouple and infrared thermometer, the temperature of graphite mould can be monitored in real-time during heating.

This series of spark plasma sintering equipment is favored by universities and enterprises because of its reliable performance and advanced function. At the same time, Haoyue technology is constantly developing and improving technology to meet the market demand, launching new material preparation equipment with better performance, and providing corresponding technical support. Haoyue Technology is looking forward to cooperating with you.

Haoyue Technology is a high-tech enterprise integrating R & D, production and sales of electric furnaces. The company has been focusing on advanced ceramics and composite materials, semiconductor materials, carbon materials and lithium and new energy materials and equipment in four major fields, with rich industry experience and professional technology, dedicated to serving customers, providing perfect integrated industrial solutions.