Development of Large-Size Ceramic/Metal Bulk FGM Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Large-size ceramic/metal bulk FGMs have been fabricated on a recently developed and world's largest Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) system. According to the development program for practical production processes and machines for FGMs by SPS, the processes, mechanical properties, dimensional size and shape effects, and production machine systems were investigated. A disk-shaped sintered compact with a diameter of 100mm and thickness of approximately 17mm ZrO 2 (3Y)/stainless steel FGM was homogeneously consolidated in a shorter sintering time, while maintaining high quality and repeatability by utilizing temperature gradient sintering method. The SPS heating-up and holding time totalled less than one hour.