Nanocrystalline powder with an average crystallite size of 8-12 nm, wh
ich was produced by a combustion synthesis process, was used to prepar
e dense, nanocrystalline articles. Green compacts of high green densit
y were prepared by dry pressing and densified by a fast-firing process
. During fast-firing, the dwell temperature significantly affected the
final grain size and final density. On the other hand, the ranges of
heating rates and dwell times that were used had a much less significa
nt effect on the final density and final grain size. It was determined
, however, that a high final density (>99% rho(th)) and a very fine fi
nal average grain size (<200 nm) can be simultaneously achieved under
three: different firing conditions. The high densification rates are,
in part, a result of the minimal coarsening that the particles undergo
when the sample is taken rapidly through the temperature regime in wh
ich surface diffusion predominates to the temperature regime in which
the densification mechanisms of grain boundary and lattice diffusion p
redominate.