Gravity and configurational energy induced microstructural changes in liquid phase sintering

Experiments were performed with W-Ni-Fe heavy alloys in order to measure the microstructural changes vs. position that occur in liquid-phase sintering under normal gravity. The experimentally observed segregation is less than the calculated equilibrium segregation due to the retarding effect from the rigid solid skeleton formed during sintering. These results improve understanding of microstructure, mechanical properties, component shape, and dimensional stability benefits that may be realized from low-gravity sintering.