Acquisition of a Vacuum Sintering Furnace System

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The sintering process is generic to powder processing of materials, and is important both in powder metallurgy, reactive and refractive metals, and ceramic fabrication. Concerns with respect to material properties and microstructure quality create interest in control of the sintering process. Beyond time and temperature control, the heating and cooling rates, as well as the sintering environment prove crucial to successful sintering of materials. This furnace system is an important step in developing a better understanding of enhanced sintering processes and full density sintering. This furnace system will allow new materials research with an emphasis on processing factors and their impact on the microstructure-property links in sintered materials. Research applications range from austentitic stainless steels to titanium aluminides, and includes areas relevant to the processing and manufacturing of advanced materials. The furnace will be located in the Particulate Materials Center at Penn State and will be available for use by the PI and the entire faculty.