MoO₂ micro-powders with a mean pore size of 3.4 nm and specific surface area of 2.5 g/cm³ were compacted by dry pressing, then pressureless sintered at a temperature of 1000–1150 °C for 2 h or for a sintering time of 0.5–12 h at 1050 °C in an N₂ atmosphere. Then, their microstructure evolution for morphology, crystallite, and grain growth were investigated. By sintering at a certain temperature and times, the irregular shape of the MoO₂ powders transformed into an equiaxed structure, owing to the surface energy, which contributed to faster grain growth at the initial stage of sintering. The crystallite and grain sizes exponentially increased with the sintering time, and the growth exponent, n, was approximately 2.8 and 4, respectively. This indicates that the crystallite growth is governed by dislocation-mediated lattice diffusion, and the grain growth is determined by surface diffusion-controlled pore mobility. The increase in sintering temperature increased both crystallite and grain size, which obeyed the Arrhenius equation, and the activation energies were determined to be 95.65 and 76.95 kJmol⁻¹ for crystallite and grain growths, respectively.

This study investigates the effects of grain boundary structures on mechanical properties of nanocrystalline Al-0.7Mg-1.0Cu alloy using nanoindentation system. Grain boundary structure transforms to high angle grain boundaries from low angle ones with increase of heat treatment temperature and the transformation temperature is about 400℃. Young’s modulus and hardness are higher in sample with low angle grain boundaries, while creep length is larger in sample with high angle ones. These results indicate that progress of plastic deformation at room temperature is more difficult in sample with low angle ones. During compression test at 200℃, strain softening occurs in all samples. However, yield strength in sample with low angle grain boundaries is higher twice than that with high angle ones due to higher activation energy for grain boundary sliding.

A356 Al composites reinforced by short carbon fiber were prepared through the 2-step process: fabrication of a composite precursor and ultrasonication of the precursor melt. The short carbon fibers were coated with 0.15~1.5 μm thick SiC layer by a carbothermal reaction, and an amount of the carbon fiber reinforcement was determined to be 1.5 vol.% and 4.0 vol.%, respectively. The addition of the carbon fiber increased the hardness of A356 alloy. However, tensile strength did not increase in the as-cast composites regardless of the SiC coating and volume fraction of the carbon fiber, due to the debonding which reduced load transfer efficiency from matrix to fiber at the interface. After T6-treatment of the composites, a significant increase in strength occurred only in the composite reinforced by the SiC-coated short carbon fiber, which was considered to result from the formation of a precipitate improving the Al/SiC interfacial strength

In this study, considering the economic feasibility of products that can be produced through the binder jetting additive manufacturing process, 316L stainless steel, a widely used material with a wide particle size ranging from 15 to 106 μm, was used. The lubrication effect was increased by internal patterning through design for additive manufacturing, and journal bearing parts with excellent load resistance and wear resistance were implemented by using wear-resistant Cu as an infiltration material. In addition, to investigate the amount of Cu infiltrated as a function of porosity, the parts were pre-sintered from 1423 K to 1573 K, and the best performance was obtained when Cu was infiltrated after pre-sintering at 1473 K. As a result of rig testing of Cu-infiltrated journal bearings, mechanical properties were obtained that were more than 50% improved compared to those of mass products.

This study investigates the effects of repetitive injection molding on the properties of feedstock using the AISI 4140 feedstock. The properties of feedstock are evaluated from the mixing homogeneity of powder and binder, rheological properties, and dimensional accuracy of parts sintered. The feedstock after the 1st injection molding shows a better homogeneity than as-received feedstock due to re-mixing effects between the screw and barrel during the injection molding process. As the number of recycling numbers increases, the homogeneity, viscosities ad shrinkage ratio of recycled feedstocks show slight differences with those of the as-received feedstock until the 6th molding injection. However, some rheological parameters like the moldability index sharply increased up to the 4th injection but shows a tendency to decrease thereafter.