Production of nickel alloys by spark plasma sintering method and the effect of the liquid phase on material properties

This study investigates the production of nickel-based powder materials using the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method and examines the effects of liquid phase additives on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the specimens produced by this technique. SPS enables rapid sintering by applying high temperature and pressure in a short time, offering advantages such as lower energy consumption, fine-grained microstructure, and high density. As part of the study, liquid phase additions were added to commercially available nickel-based alloy powders at various rates and hot-pressed at 950°C, 35 MPa, and 4 minutes. Mechanical analyses, density measurements, HV hardness tests, and three-point bending tests were performed on the produced samples. Furthermore, phase transformations and fracture surface morphology were investigated in detail using microstructure XRD and SEM/EDS analyses. The findings reveal that the addition of a liquid phase positively influences the density and mechanical properties of nickel-based alloys. Notably, optimized additive ratios led to significant improvements in hardness and fracture strength. These results suggest that nickel-based alloys, processed via SPS, can serve as high-performance structural components, presenting a viable alternative to cobalt-based alloys