A scaling law study of the initial stage of microwave sintering of iron spheres

The application of a classical sphere-to-sphere approach showed the possibility of identifying the main diffusion mechanisms operating during the initial stage of microwave sintering of iron powder. A neck growth exponent of n = 7 was found during conventional sintering of iron, which suggests that surface diffusion is the main sintering mechanism. This sintering mechanism was confirmed by examining the scaling law suggested by Herring. A fourfold increase in the pre-exponential factor (from 7 × 10−8 to 2 × 10−4) in favor of microwave sintering was observed.