Computer Modelling of Sintering at Different Length Scales

Sintering is a manufacturing technique that has existed for centuries to make bricks, china and pottery and is now increasingly used to produce a wide range of high-tech materials and products. The process forms ceramic and metallic solids from powders and is used to manufacture products such as automotive parts, valves and pumps, magnets, bio-ceramics and materials for nanotechnology. Modern modelling techniques are now being employed to improve the efficiency of sintering and increase its usefulness in new technology applications.Computer Modelling of Sintering at Different Length Scales covers modern techniques in sintering in a comprehensive manner and bridges the gap between the highly mathematical nature of some modelling techniques and the practical needs of industry. The structure of the book shows that sintering models are applied at three length scales: the atomistic-scale, the particle-scale and the component-scale. Sintering is then viewed as a multi-scale process and the mathematical techniques linking the models at the three scales are discussed. Powder compaction models are also outlined which provide the initial conditions for the sintering analysis. Finally, the programming and numerical issues are dicussed. Two computer programmes which can be used by researchers and practitioners to model sintering at the particle and the component scales are provided on the attached CD-ROM. Numerical examples are provided throughout and compared with experimental data where possible.Computer Modelling of Sintering at Different Length Scales will provide materials and chemical researchers, engineers, and post-graduate students with an in-depth understanding of recently developed mathematical models and numerical methods for the computer simulation of the sintering process.

Dr. Pan is a senior lecturer in the School of Engineering at the University of Surrey, UK and a researcher in the Centre for Engineering Materials and Structures there. He is a member of the UK research funding council, EPSRC, Peer Review College and a reviewer for several of the most important materials journals. This work has given Dr. Pan a good overview of the process of sintering and how it is modelled and led to him writing an extensive review paper in International Materials Reviews, vol. 48, pp. 69-85. This review will provide the basis of Dr. Pan's comprehensive monograph on the modelling of sintering processes.