Effect of powder particle size of tin based alloy sintered via hybrid microwave and conventional furnace

Abstract

Microwave processing of metal alloy powders have gained considerable potential in the field of material synthesis. This paper aims to present the effect of powder particle size of Tin Based Alloy sintered using different type of heat source. Tin (Sn) based alloy containing two different sizes, 10 μm and 150 μm of Sn powder were successfully sintered using hybrid microwave and conventional sintering. The overall processing time was reduced by about 93% through microwave sintering. The comparative analysis is based on densification parameter, microhardness, microstructures and XRD detected phases of the specimens. All specimen with 10 μm sintered in microwave exhibited 90% of theoretical density while exhibited 86% lower porosity and possessed 30% higher in microhardness value.