The Activated Sintering of Tungsten with Group VIII Elements

Small additions of Group VIII transition elements permit the densification of tungsten powder compacts at temperatures well below those employed for sintering commercial purity tungsten powder. The mechanism of this process has been examined using the model concepts of current general sintering theories. The added solid element accelerates mass transport along its interface with a tungsten particle. This process, together with sintering in the presence of a liquid phase or a volatile component, comprises the three types of carrier phase sintering in which one of several possible pure component solid‐state sintering mechanisms is selectively accelerated.