Solution-reprecipitation mechanism in Fe-Cu-C during liquid phase sintering

The driving force for sintering tit the Fe-Cu-C system induced by the gap i n carbon concentration between lion particles and the driving force arising from differences in surface curvature have been evaluated quantitatively, it is shown that the former is at least one order of magnitude larger than tbe surface curvature effect, Under tbe influence of the driving force of c arbon, a semipermeable layer of liquid copper forms which prevents carbon d iffusion, bet which allows iron to be transported between particles, thereb y enhancing sintering, This phenomenon appears to control copper growth of the ferrous compact Neck formation in a columnar structure is shown to be a n example of liquid boundary migration in which particle coalescence occurs .