Densification of pure magnesium by spark plasma sintering-discussion of sintering mechanism

Abstract In this study, high-quantity pure magnesium was prepared by SPS, and the sintering densification mechanism was discussed by using numerical simulation and simultaneous experiment. Results show that a layer of dense magnesium oxide was formed at the surface of Mg particles, and the oxide reduction can be observed owing to the effect of oxide film removal in SPS. The high energy pulsed current flows preferentially through particle contact surfaces, which provides the conditions for the generation of micro-arc between particles and the temperature at the particles contact point can be up to 1979 °C. With the low pressure at the initial sintering stage, local high temperature induced by micro-arc makes the melting (even evaporation) appearance. At the same sintering temperature of 570 °C, the obvious difference in bending strength also demonstrates the significance of spark discharge in SPS. The formation process of sintering neck demonstrates that sintering process is the reflection of melting (even evaporation), diffusion and plastic deformation. In order to realize tiny area and high-quality connection between powder particles, an innovative powder sintering technology using high-frequency pulse electric current (High frequency pulse current assisted sintering) is proposed based on the enlightenment of the skin, proximity and arc discharge effect of high-frequency pulse current. This technology is also instructive for other alloys and engineering materials.