Innovative Approach to Sintering Aluminum and Aluminum Alloy Powders for Rapid Manufacturing Applications

A new approach to sintering loose packed, coarse aluminum alloy powder to full or near full density is presented. A controlled amount of water vapor is introduced into the sintering atmosphere, which disru pts the oxide film and allows metallurgical contact between particles. In addition, supersolidus liquid phase sintering is used to sinter the part to full density. Since the method is particularly applicable to uncompacted powders, it is potentially useful for sintering aluminum powder preforms manufactured by 3DPrinting and powder injection molding.