A NOVEL THERMOOPTICAL MEASURING SYSTEM FOR THE IN-SITU STUDY OF SINTERING PROCESSES

A novel thermo-optical measuring system (TOM) is described, which is a ble to monitor simultaneously and in situ thermal and optical properti es of materials during the process of sintering. These are thermal dif fusivity, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, transfer of heat radiat ion and scattering of light. Additionally, the geometric shrinkage is recorded by a non-contact optical dilatometer. The system has been des igned for an efficient optimization of time-temperature-atmosphere cyc les in sintering processes. Therefore, in the construction of the TOM system transferability of process parameters to other sintering furnac es is an important requirement. Due to this, compromises have been nec essary in the layout of the measuring methods. Nevertheless, a high re solution was achieved for the distinction of different sintering state s. Besides dilatometry, thermal diffusivity measurement by a laser-fla sh technique is a promising tool for the in situ monitoring of changes in microstructure during sintering.