| Abstract Scope |
This talk will review a series of mechanistic studies on ultrafast sintering with and without applied electric fields [see a recent Perspective in ENGINEERING Transformative Materials 2026; https://doi.org/10.2738/ENGTM.2026.0002, and references therein]. In 2015, we reported that flash sintering generally initiates through thermal runaway [Acta Materialia 94:87 (2015)]. In 2017, we further demonstrated that ultrahigh heating rates are a key enabler of ultrafast sintering by showing comparable densification kinetics under (1) flash sintering with electric fields and (2) rapid thermal annealing without electric fields, both at heating rates of ~200 K/s [Acta Materialia 125:465 (2017)]. Subsequently, additional ultrafast sintering approaches, including ultrafast high-temperature sintering [Science 368:521 (2020)] and plasma sintering [Nature 623:964 (2023)], have been demonstrated. More recently, we have invented induction ultrafast sintering (IUS) [Scripta Materialia 272:117066 (2026)]. We further conducted mechanistic studies of ultrafast reactive sintering of compositionally complex silicides via distinct kinetic pathways (Cao et al., unpublished work). |