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The technological and industrial needs for development of fully dense nanocomposites have led to significant advances in spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique and its enhanced forms. This technique has opened up a new prospect over carbon nanotube (CNT)-metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) with superior physical or mechanical characteristics. To date, a large number of authentic papers have been published over this ongoing field, but have not been comprehensively reviewed. The pertinent research works cover some significant aspects of CNT-MMNCs requiring a concise review on (i) the potential phase transformations of pure CNTs and microstructure evolution; (ii) the novel approaches for... 

As of today, metals and alloys are widely utilized as structural, mechanical, electrical, and magnetic materials in every aspect of technology and industry. The complexity and diversity of metals applications emphasize the need for a new production method to quickly and easily manufacture metallic components. Spark plasma sintering as a new solid-state sintering method has been recently developed to respond to these needs. Up to now, numerous papers and researches have been published in the field of spark plasma sintering and its ability to manufacture metallic samples. Density is a significant property that has a great influence on the physical, mechanical, and functional properties of... 

To study the effect of the production method on physical and mechanical properties of Cu-rGO nanocomposites, nanocomposite powder samples with rGO content of 0.25–1 wt.% were prepared via combined routes of molecular-level mixing (MLM) and powder metallurgy (PM). Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was applied to consolidate nanocomposite powders with better control on the grain size. According to the specific electrical resistivity measurements, microhardness, and pin-on-disk wear tests, the sample with 0.5 wt.% rGO comprised the best overall properties. For assessment, samples containing 0.5 wt.% rGO were also produced via PM and MLM routes, separately. The physical and mechanical properties of... 

The nanocomposite Cu–Cr powder was consolidated by flash spark plasma sintering (FSPS), which involves applying an extremely rapid change in the electrical power passing through the bulk of the sample. It was demonstrated that an essentially fully dense material could be obtained in 15 s. Such short-term treatment typically preserves the nanostructured features of the material. However, investigation revealed a nonuniformity in the microstructure of the alloys obtained under such extreme conditions. To better understand the observed effects, the FSPS process was simulated. It was observed that a rapid change in the applied electrical power resulted in nonuniform distributions of current... 

ABSTRACTs: The need for fully dense material with well-engineered microstructures has led to the promising emergence of innovative sintering technologies among which the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is one of the most favorite. Unlike the conventional sintering processes, SPS takes advantage of a current flow passing through the sintering die and metallic powders by which fast densification with minimal grain growth and enhanced physicomechanical properties can be obtained. Albeit there is a growing interest in the exploitation of SPS in producing sufficiently consolidated metallic parts, no analytical review has been released over the effects of SPS parameters on the densification behavior,... 

The effect of pulsed direct current (PDC) on solid-state diffusion in the Ni–Al binary system was investigated. Two experimental schemes were employed: in the presence and absence of an electric field. The diffusion couples were heat-treated for 1.5, 3, and 5 h at 803, 833, and 863 K. Under the investigated conditions, only two intermetallic phases (NiAl3 and Ni2Al3) formed at the boundary of the metals. It was shown that the PDC passing through the diffusion couple significantly enhanced the growth rates of both phases. The apparent reaction–diffusion coefficients were DNiAl3=4.0×10−9exp(−[Formula presented]) and DNi2Al3=9.7×10−9exp(−[Formula presented]) in the field-assisted scheme,... 

Hybrid-reinforced metals are novel composite materials in which nano-phases including nanoparticles and nanotubes/nanosheets are used simultaneously to reinforce metals or alloys to enhance physical, mechanical, wear and other properties. In this research, Cu/(CNT-SiC) hybrid nanocomposite was synthesized using flake powder metallurgy and spark plasma sintering method and the effects of hybrid reinforcements on microstructural, wear and corrosion properties of the developed material were investigated and compared with those of copper. Microstructural characterization showed reduction of average grain size from 419 to 307 nm and increase of low angle grain boundaries with the introduction and... 

Ta0.8Hf0.2C ceramic has the highest melting point among the known materials (4000°C). Spark plasma sintering is a new route for consolidation of materials, specially ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTCs), which are difficult to be sintered at temperatures lower than 2000°C.The purpose of this study is to consolidate Ta0.8Hf0.2C by spark plasma sintering at low temperature using MoSi2 and TaSi2 as sintering aid. In this regard, effect of different amounts of sintering aids and carbides ratio on densification behavior and mechanical properties of Ta1-xHfxC were investigated.Fully consolidation of Ta0.8Hf0.2C was achieved in presence of 12vol.% sintering aid after sintering at 1650°C for 5min... 

Metallic or ceramic micro/nanoporous materials have attracted particular attention due to some interesting structural and functional properties. There exist a variety of methods for producing porous materials by which optimized features can be reached. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is one of these new-emerging approaches. This technique is often combined with conventional technologies and produce a variety of porous structures with tailorable microstructure and physicomechanical properties. This review addresses SPS and obtainable porous materials with nanoscale and microscale microstructural features. The processing methods, microstructural phenomena, and physicomechanical properties of... 

Copper matrix composites have received more attentions as possible candidate for thermal and electrical conductive materials to be used in electrical contact applications. In this study, five-layered Cu/YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) functionally graded material (FGM) and copper matrix composite specimens containing 3 and 5 vol% YSZ particles plus pure Cu specimen were synthesized using powder metallurgy (PM) route and spark plasma sintering (SPS) consolidation process. The microstructural and some physical, mechanical features of all specimens were characterized. Microscopic examinations showed that ultrafine YSZ particles were distributed in the copper matrix almost homogeneously. An... 

In this work, silicon carbide (SiC) was utilized as a binding agent to fuse carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into highly tough dense CNT bulk nanocomposites through spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Phase studies were performed using x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and obtained results were verified by the microstructural evolution. Also, the optimum processing temperature was determined as 1600 °C at which the undesired allotropic phase transformation of SiC (β) → SiC (α) was avoided and single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) were structurally preserved. Fracture toughness of the nanocomposite synthesized at optimum processing conditions was... 

Monitoring the oxygen in the fume and controlling its amount at high temperatures is an efficient way to regulate combustion efficiency. Zirconia can be an attractive candidate for use in oxygen sensors due to its good physical and chemical properties. The crystal structure of pure zirconia nanopowder due to the lack of cubic phase cannot be used for the fabrication of gas sensor electrodes. Moreover, the change of temperature during ceramic processing and application can promote structural and phase stresses. In this work, to achieve a pure cubic phase, yttria was successfully added to zirconia by a large-scale and effective method called Pechini. The yttria-stabilized zirconia nanopowders... 

The use of ZrO2 nanoparticles is common in the Cu matrix to manufacture Cu/ZrO2 nanocomposites. Many approaches and parameters produce Cu/ZrO2 nanocomposites with an appropriate wear rate and other properties. Hence, proposing an accurate and reliable model was imperative. The main goal of this paper is to find out the best models among the ant colony optimization (ACO), gene expression programming (GEP), artificial bee colony (ABC), and gray wolf optimization algorithm (GWOA) to predict the wear rate of/ZrO2 nanocomposites. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research that predicts Cu/ZrO2 nanocomposites wear rate using group modeling. To develop models, 105 data were collected...