The University of Arizona's Direct Current Sintering (DCS) furnace is one of the largest SPS furnaces built to-date and is designed to incite the technology from small, lab scale work into production of large scale, industry relevant parts. DCS is used to rapidly consolidate parts using a DCS 100-36 furnace from Thermal Technology (Santa Rosa, CA). DCS applies a continuous direct current through a conductive graphite die assembly while simultaneously applying pressure. The die is heated through joule heating and conduction. By ultilizing joule heating, rapid heating rates (<600°C/min) can be obtained reaching temperatures >1500°C in minutes. DCS 100-36 capabilities are listed below.
Maximum Current | 36,000 amps |
Maximum Load | 100 tons |
Environment | Vacuum or Inert |
Maximum Stoke Length | 21 inches |
Chamber Size | 28" x 24" x 26" |
Ram Size | 10 inches |