Instrumentation and automation of a furnace adapted to flash sintering

• Grant number: 18/04331-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): October 01, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Eliria Maria de Jesus Agnolon Pallone
• Grantee: João Vitor Campos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/03786-1 - Instrumentation and automation of a tube furnace adapted to flash sintering, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

In the last decade the flash sintering technique (SF) was presented in the literature. This technique consists in the application of electric field in the sample concomitant with the increase of temperature of the furnace, during the sintering. Materials with negative temperature coefficient have their electrical resistance inversely proportional to temperature. Thus, at a given temperature an electric current is induced through the sample. This electric current heats the sample abruptly, causing its retraction in a few seconds, reducing the grain growth when compared to conventional sintering. In this context, the present work aims to automate, for the first time, the control of SF parameters during sample retraction, and identify the correlation between the SF parameters and the physical, mechanical and microstructural characteristics of tetragonal zirconia stabilized with 3 mol% of yttria (3Y-TZP). In the first stage of this work, the tubular furnace was adapted and tested to perform SF. Several results have already been obtained from different configurations of SF for 3Y-TZP, for example, 3Y-TZP was sintered in this furnace at 950°C under electric field of 90 V/cm reaching 97% of densification. In the second stage of the work, 3Y-TZP will be sintered under 50 different SF conditions in the adapted furnace, in order to establish a correlation between the electrical parameters of SF and the physical, mechanical and microstructural characteristics of the sintered material. In addition, experiments will be carried out where the current density will be varied during the densification of the sample, aiming the control of the microstructure. For this, a control software that allows the variation of this parameter in milliseconds is being elaborated. In this way, it is expected that the instrumentation and automation of the SF process will allow the accurate control of the structuring of the microstructure of the 3Y-TZP, thus improving its mechanical performance. (AU)

Scientific publications

(10)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LAVAGNINI, ISABELA R.; CAMPOS, V, JOAO; FERREIRA, JULIETA A.; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.. Microstructural evolution of 3YSZ flash-sintered with current ramp control. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, v. 103, n. 6, p. 3493-3499, JUN 2020. (18/04331-5, 15/07319-8)

LAVAGNINI, ISABELA REIS; CAMPOS, JOAO VITOR; STORION, ANA GABRIELA; LOBO, ANDERSON OLIVEIRA; RAJ, RISHI; DE JESUS AGNOLON PALLONE, ELIRIA MARIA. Influence of flash sintering on phase transformation and conductivity of hydroxyapatite. CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL, v. 47, n. 7, A, p. 9125-9131, APR 1 2021. (18/04331-5, 18/11143-0, 19/03786-1)

V. CAMPOS, JOAO; LAVAGNINI, ISABELA R.; AVILA, VIVIANA; YOON, BOLA; GHOSE, SANJIT; RAJ, RISHI; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.; JESUS, LILIAN M.. On the Arrhenius-like behavior of conductivity during flash sintering of 3 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia ceramics. SCRIPTA MATERIALIA, v. 203, OCT 2021. (18/04331-5, 19/03786-1, 19/14677-9)

LAVAGNINI, ISABELA R.; CAMPOS, JOAO V.; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.. Microstructure evaluation of 3YSZ sintered by Two-Step Flash Sintering. CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL, v. 47, n. 15, p. 21618-21624, AUG 1 2021. (18/04331-5, 15/07319-8)

CAMPOS, V, JOAO; LAVAGNINI, ISABELA R.; PEREIRA DA SILVA, JOAO G.; FERREIRA, JULIETA A.; SOUSA, V, RAFAEL; MUECKE, ROBERT; GUILLON, OLIVIER; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.. Flash sintering scaling-up challenges: Influence of the sample size on the microstructure and onset temperature of the flash event. SCRIPTA MATERIALIA, v. 186, p. 1-5, SEP 2020. (18/04331-5, 15/07319-8)

DE ABREU, MARIANA G.; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.; FERREIRA, JULIETA A.; CAMPOS, JOAO V.; DE SOUSA, RAFAEL V.. Evaluation of machine learning based models to predict the bulk density in the flash sintering process. MATERIALS TODAY COMMUNICATIONS, v. 27, JUN 2021. (18/04331-5, 15/07319-8)

STORION, ANA G.; LAVAGNINI, ISABELA R.; CAMPOS, V, JOAO; DA SILVA, JOAO G. P.; MAESTRELLI, SYLMA C.; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.. Effect of thermal insulation on microstructural homogeneity and onset temperature of flash sintered materials. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, v. 41, n. 15, p. 7807-7815, DEC 2021. (18/11143-0, 19/14677-9, 18/04331-5)

CAMPOS, JOAO VITOR; LAVAGNINI, ISABELA REIS; DE SOUSA, RAFAEL VIEIRA; FERREIRA, JULIETA ADRIANA; DE JESUS AGNOLON PALLONE, ELIRIA MARIA. Development of an instrumented and automated flash sintering setup for enhanced process monitoring and parameter control. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, v. 39, n. 2-3, p. 531-538, FEB-MAR 2019. (18/04331-5, 15/07319-8)

DE SOUSA, RAFAEL V.; BORSATTO, LUCAS BASOLLI; CAMPOS, JOAO, V; FERREIRA, JULIETA A.; MONTEIRO, FABULO RIBEIRO; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.. Modeling and simulation of the flash sintering: An approach to study the influence of process attributes on the flash phenomenon and microstructure. MATERIALS TODAY COMMUNICATIONS, v. 37, p. 6-pg., 2023-09-01. (15/07319-8, 19/14677-9, 18/04331-5)

LAVAGNINI, ISABELA R.; CAMPOS, JOAO, V; JESUS, LILIAN M.; PALLONE, ELIRIA M. J. A.. Influence of forming methods on the microstructure of 3YSZ flash-sintered ceramics. MATERIALIA, v. 22, p. 6-pg., 2022-04-19. (18/19370-6, 18/04331-5, 21/06509-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CAMPOS, João Vitor. Instrumentation and automation of a tube furnace adapted to flash sintering: improvement on sintering process of zirconia. 2020. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Zootecnica e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZE/BT) Pirassununga.