| Spark Plasma Sintering of Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) was investigated numerically. The numerical model integrates thermal, electrical and mechanical phenomena. The sintering process is approximated using temperature and density dependent material properties. The conditions to which a sample is exposed during processing were calibrated using SPS experiments. Three separate SPS experiments were conducted of sintering Bismuth Telluride. The selection of this material was prompted by its potential in thermoelectric applications. In these experiments the samples were sintered for a total of 13 minutes: 10 minutes to heat up from room temperature to 723 K, followed by 3 minutes at 723 K, with a maximum load of 80 MPa. The simulation results were compared to the experimental data and found to be of acceptable accuracy. It was found that the tuning of the contact resistances played a major role in the accuracy of the simulation. It was also shown that density dependent material properties can be used to simulate the consolidation of a powder during sintering. |
