The field activated sintering technique (FAST) is a powder consolidation process via the application of pulsed current and pressure. Compared with conventional hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing, FAST has demonstrated a rapid densification process that has the potential to minimize grain growth, which is crucial to achieving excellent physical properties. This work covers the physical phenomena, multi-scale analytical and numerical models, experimental studies, and application of FAST processing. Specifically, a coupled thermal-electric-densification framework for the design and optimization of FAST type processing has been proposed and implemented into a finite element package. A discrete finite element method is also developed to determine the effective thermal conductivity in a particulate system with realistic microstructure. Moreover, FAST simulation of a hip joint replacement is demonstrated.

Dr. Jing Zhang is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research interests include renewable energy and multi-scale modeling. He was the recipient of NSF/EPSCoR Early Career Award and Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship. His research is supported by NSF, DOE, NASA and AFRL.