Characteristics of Liquid-Phase Sintering

Because the liquid wets and spreads over the solid surfaces, pores will be formed in the liquid. The reduction of the liquid-vapor interfacial area provides the driving force for shrinkage or densification of the compact. If the pore in the liquid is assumed to be spherical with radius of r, the pressure difference across the curved surface is given by the Young and Laplace equation  

The formation of liquid phase during the liquid-phase sintering is schematically shown in Fig. 5.28 [73]. It is started from a mixture of two powders, i.e., the major component and an additive. The additive is molten to liquid phase or reacts with the 

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