Sintering - Advantages

Advantages

Particular advantages of the powder technology include:

1. Very high levels of purity and uniformity in starting materials
2. Preservation of purity, due to the simpler subsequent fabrication process (fewer steps) that it makes possible
3. Stabilization of the details of repetitive operations, by control of grain size during the input stages
4. Absence of binding contact between segregated powder particles – or "inclusions" (called stringering) – as often occurs in melting processes
5. No deformation needed to produce directional elongation of grains
6. Capability to produce materials of controlled, uniform porosity.
7. Capability to produce nearly net-shaped objects.
8. Capability to produce materials which cannot be produced by any other technology.
9. Capability to fabricate high-strength material like turbines

The literature contains many references on sintering dissimilar materials to produce solid/solid-phase compounds or solid/melt mixtures at the processing stage. Almost any substance can be obtained in powder form, through either chemical, mechanical or physical processes, so basically any material can be obtained through sintering. When pure elements are sintered, the leftover powder is still pure, so it can be recycled.