Abstract
A system of equations is established describing how variations in powder characteristics and process parameters are related to the quality of the sintered product.
The basic assumption is that a cylindrical body is to be fabricated by cold pressing and sintering. It is also assumed that the allowable variations in the diameter, the bulk density, and/or the linear density of this sintered body are specified.
The powder material is characterized by the slope, K, of the curve of green density vs. sintered dem,ity. Values near unity give least variation in sintered diameter. An important parameter of the process is the variation, Bg, of the green density.
Variation of the parameters, B of bulk density, L of linear density, and D of sintered diameter are dependent on two groups of variables. The total variation may be composed of variations in the powder quality and the sintering conditions (group 1) or of variations in the green density (group 2).
Taking a practical example, equations are derived for the variables controlling the production of ground and unground sintered ceramic nuclear fuel pellets.
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