Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies

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Design and analysis of long-stepped horn for

ultrasonic-assisted sintering

Gurminder Singh & Pulak M Pandey

To cite this article: Gurminder Singh & Pulak M Pandey (2020): Design and analysis of long-
stepped horn for ultrasonic-assisted sintering, Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies,
DOI: 10.1080/2374068X.2020.1758604

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/2374068X.2020.1758604

Published online: 01 Jun 2020.

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ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES
https://doi.org/10.1080/2374068X.2020.1758604

Design and analysis of long-stepped horn for

ultrasonic-assisted sintering
Gurminder Singh and Pulak M Pandey
Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In the recent past, ultrasonic vibrations have been incorporated in Accepted 17 April 2020
sintering to improve the performance of the product and process.
KEYWORDS
The ultrasonic vibration accelerates the diffusion process in the Ultrasonic sintering;
solid-state fabrications. The ultrasonic system consists of ultrasonic harmonic analysis; thermal
generator, transducer and horn. The design of ultrasonic horn is modal analysis; long-stepped
a challenge for ultrasonic-assisted sintering (UAS) due to the invol- horn; powder densification
vement of high temperature. In this study, a long step horn was
designed as per the sintering furnace requirement. The horn was
designed with multi-nodes and anti-nodes working at 20 kHz fre-
quency and having approximate 20 µm vibration at the horn end.
The methodology was used to analyse step horn design with the
help of modal and harmonic analysis to maximise the amplitude at
the horn end. Additionally, modal analysis at elevated temperatures
was carried out by coupling thermal dependent properties, and it
was observed that the natural frequency and the harmonic ampli-
tude decreased. The designed horn has been used to sinter bronze
spherical powder at 700 and 800
C sintering temperature for 1 hr
of soaking time to study the effect of ultrasonic vibration on the
densification behaviour. The results showed better homogeneity
and density as compared to conventional sintering process.

1. Introduction
Sintering is the consolidation of metal, ceramic or other powders into solid parts by
subjecting to heat for a certain duration of time. From thousands of years, sintering
techniques have been used to fabricate pottery, bricks, jewellery and other materials [1].
It is the diffusion of particle atoms of metal powder below the melting temperature to
reduce porosity and to enhance the mechanical, electrical, thermal and other properties.
Several variants in sintering have been developed in the last decade to improve the
diffusion phenomena. During sintering, mechanical pressure has been used to increase
the diffusion between particles called pressure-assisted sintering [2]. The electrically
assisted sintering is studied to enhance the densification with external pressure and
electrical spark, known as spark plasma sintering [2]. The process has advantages like
lower sintering temperature, shorter holding time, marked comparative improvements in
properties of materials and disadvantages such as high cost, and low production rate over

CONTACT Pulak M Pandey [email protected] Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of

Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 G. SINGH AND P. M. PANDEY

the conventional sintering. The electromagnetic energy is also being used to increase the
performance of the sintering process, known as microwave sintering. The high-frequency
alternating electromagnetic field changes the material diffusion continuously and pro-
vides rapid heating for small loads [3]. Generally, it sinters one compact at a time and
requires the particles size around the penetration depth of the microwave.
Ultrasonic waves have been widely used in industrial fields for different purposes such
as ultrasonic welding, milling, drilling, and casting to minimise cutting forces, reduce
residual stresses, accelerate the rate of reactions and to improve the grain refinement by
homogenous mixing. The oscillatory motion by ultrasonic waves can be propagated
through the different state of materials such as solid, liquid, or gas. The ultrasonic
vibratory energy is generated from the electrical generator with the help of
a transducer. The generated vibrational motion by the transducer is low in amplitude
and difficult for practical use. The magnification or amplification of the motion needs to
be carried out as per the required applications. The horn is used to amplify the amplitude
magnitude of the ultrasonic waves. The resonance between the horn and the transducer
transfers the waves from one end to the other end. Usually, the horns are designed of
length as per half-wavelength with one node and two antinodes positions. For different
applications, horns can be designed with multiple wavelengths to increase the length with
similar amplification factor [4].
Few attempts have been made to study the ultrasonic wave effect during the sintering
process. Abedeni et al. [5] investigated the ultrasonic vibration effects on hot pressing of
aluminium powder of different particle sizes at different sintering temperatures under the
constant pressure. The initial density and final density were both found to be higher as
compared to conventional hot pressing. The ultrasonic vibration increased the contact
points of the powder, and improved the densification, resulting in higher hardness value.
Moreover, the finer particles have a more significant effect as compared to coarse size
particles.
Li et al. [6] analysed the effect of ultrasonic vibrations on the joining of Silicon chips
on the copper substrate by sintering of nano-silver paste as soldering material. The
study showed improvement in microstructure densification of the sintered silver with
porosity decreased from 23.83 % to 12.83 %. The shear strength of the joint increased
from 8.4 MPa to 25 MPa, which proportionally improved the reliability of the joint.
Wei et al. [7] studied the ultrasonic vibration effect on the solid-state reaction between
Fe2 O3 and CaO for the formation of CaFe2 O4 (CF). The steel-based horn was used to
study ultrasonic time, and ultrasonic power with the sintering temperature parameter.
The results indicated the ultrasonic treatment accelerated the reactions and lowered
the formation temperature of CF by 50
C as compared to conventional process.
Moreover, the mass fraction of CF increased as the ultrasonic power increased from
0 to 89%.
Trung et al. [8] reported higher relative density and mechanical properties on the
ultrasonic-assisted sintering of Cu-CNT nanocomposites by hot-isostatic pressing as
compared to the conventional method. They concluded that the ultrasonic vibration
mixed the composite homogenously and reduced the sintering temperature and time.
Similar research has been carried out by Abendini et al. [9] to study the microstructure
and flexural strength in ultrasonic hot powder compaction of Ti-6Al-4 V. They found
that as the temperature was increased with ultrasonic assistance, the pores of the sintered
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES 3

samples were eliminated, and maximum flexural strength increased as compared to the
traditional process.
Downes et al. [10] analysed the vibration properties of a compressor blade at high
temperatures. The temperature-dependent properties were used for high-temperature
modal analysis and results showed good agreement between simulation and experimental
data (within 10% error). The analysis was used to find the stress locations under the
combined effect of vibration and high temperature. Several other studies have also been
reported in the literature for high-temperature vibration analysis using temperature-
dependent properties [11–13].
From the literature, it is evident that ultrasonic assistance enhanced the properties and
performance of the sintering process. The design methodology of the ultrasonic horn for
ultrasonic-assisted sintering has not been discussed so far in the literature. As sintering is
a high-temperature process, the design of the traditionally available horns cannot be used
for the process due to the short horn lengths. Thus, the study to design the ultrasonic
horn for ultrasonic-assisted sintering is required by incorporating the vibration analysis
at high temperatures. In the present article, the long-stepped horn has been designed
with free-free vibration conditions at both ends. The multi-node and multi-antinode
have been considered to design long horn as per sintering furnace requirement. The
modal analysis and harmonic analysis have been performed at ambient temperature to
visualise the performance. The vibration analysis of the designed horn has been carried
out at high temperatures (500–900
C) by incorporating temperature-dependent proper-
ties of the horn material. The deigned horn was used to sinter bronze powder and
compared with conventional sintering in terms of density.

2. Methodology
The present section discusses the ultrasonic horn design methodology. The step shape
was chosen to design the ultrasonic horn having a greater transformation ratio as
compared to other horn shapes [13]. The flow diagram to design horn was shown in
Figure 1(a). Firstly, the CAD model of the horn was modelled in CREO (v2014). The
FEM model was established in ANSYS, having an exceptional agreement with experi-
mental results by less than 1% [14]. The modal analysis was carried out to determine the
longitudinal mode shape and natural frequency. Further, the harmonic analysis was
conducted to check the vibration amplitude at the horn end. The natural frequency of
the designed horn was verified by using a laser vibrometer.

2.1. Modal and harmonic analysis

The ultrasonic horn was designed based on open waves at both ends with multi nodes
and anti-nodes. The diameter of the horn at one end was 32 mm similar to transducer
diameter and the diameter at the other end of the horn was 16 mm, adopted as per
required amplification factor. The following equation was used to calculate the approx-
imate length of the horn.
λ
l¼n (1)
2
4 G. SINGH AND P. M. PANDEY

Figure 1. (a) Methodology to design long-stepped horn, (b) different length designs.

Where,
c
λ¼ (2)
f
Where n = 1,2,3, . . . (no. of nodes), c is a sound velocity in the material and f is the
transducer generated ultrasonic frequency. The modal and harmonic FEM analysis was
considered for the long-stepped horn. The modal analysis was used to determine the
natural frequency and vibrations modes of the system. The mass stiffness equation was
considered for the equation of motion as given in Eq. (3)
::
M X þCX_ þ KX ¼ 0 (3)
Where M describes the structural mass matrix, C and K represent the damping and
stiffness matrices, and X is the displacement vector. The damping matrix can be neglected
as the horn materials have low damping capacity. Therefore, the equation can be
rewritten as,
::
M X þKX ¼ 0 (4)

K  ω2i M ϕi ¼ 0 (5)

Equation (5) was used to determine the vibrational system frequencies. Where ϕi is
the ith eigenvalue related to the mode shape and ωi is the natural frequency of the ith
mode shape. The solution of the equation gave the system vibration frequencies corre-
sponding to the free-vibration mode shapes. The stainless-steel material was considered
for the FEM analysis as it was widely used in the literature for ultrasonic-assisted
sintering [8,16]. The hexahedral element shape was used for discretisation with 4 mm
element size. The extraction of the mode shapes was carried out in the range of
19–21 kHz to find out the longitudinal or axial mode. The boundary conditions for the
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES 5

modal analysis was chosen as the free-free ends. The general properties variation with
respect to temperatures is shown in Figure 2.
Following the modal analysis, the harmonic analysis was carried out with 5 µm
(amplitude by transducer) input to the left end. The boundary conditions were set in
accordance with the horn clamping conditions, i.e. fixed lateral and rotational move-
ment. The amplitude of the harmonic wave at the other end and stress experienced by the
horn were simulated.
To validate the simulation of the designed horn, experimental measurements were
carried out using a laser vibrometer. The Polytec OFV 303 laser head was used to collect
vibrations with the help of the vibrometer controller. Further, the signals were acquired
by vibration analyser and analysed using MATLAB (v2014). The impact hammer test was
carried out to find out the natural frequency. A minimum of five experiments was
performed to check the repeatability.
Further, the horn was analysed for high temperatures. The modal and harmonic
analysis were carried out at high temperatures to include the thermal environment.
The temperature-dependent properties of stainless steel were used at five different
temperatures 500, 600, 700, 800, 900
C adopted from the literature [16].

2.2. Materials and processing technique

The developed horn was used to sinter the spherical bronze powder having size
110–150 µm. The schematic of the long-stepped horn with furnace and other

Figure 2. (a) Young’s modulus, (b) density and (c) coefficient of thermal expansion variation with
temperatures [16].
6 G. SINGH AND P. M. PANDEY

attachments were shown in Figure 3. The customised steel crucible was attached to the
horn for the sintering of the material. The ceramic-based investment powder was used to
obtain the cavity to pour the material by the rapid tooling method [17–20]. The process
was carried out in the argon gas environment. Two sintering cycles was used with
200
C=hr heating rate, the sintering temperature of 700 and 800
C and soaking time
of 1 hr. The ultrasonic assistance was given until the soaking time for 15 min.
The conventional sintering was also carried for the comparison using similar para-
meters by switching off the ultrasonic power. The density of the sintered material was
measured by using Archimedes Principle. SEM images were used to compare the
morphology of the conventional and ultrasonic sintered samples. The porosity percen-
tage was calculated with respect to solid bronze density (8.2 g/cm3) using Eq. (6).
measured density
Calculated Porosityð%Þ ¼ 1   100 (6)
solid density

3. Results and discussion

Five number of nodes (n) were used for the analytical calculations. The five possible
designs (D1-D5) with the change in cross-section towards the output of the horn are
shown in Figure 1(b). The FEM based modal and harmonic analyses were performed for
the horn designs.
As observed from Table 1, five possible designs were having a similar natural fre-
quency, harmonic amplitude and equivalent stress. It could be due to the maximum
kinetic energy of wave motion at nodal positions. The error in values was due to the
attenuation energy loss as the step moves to the next nodal point. The third design (D3)
was considered for the UAS to provide flexibility for the design of the cooling system and
other sintering fixtures. The three different mode shapes of the horn (D3) are shown in

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of the ultrasonic-assisted setup.

 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES 7

Table 1. Modal and harmonic analysis results of different horn designs.

Sr. No. Natural frequency (Hz) Harmonic amplitude (μmÞ Equivalent von-misses stress (MPa)
1 20216 21.4 105.2
2 20201 20.4 104.8
3 20150 20.6 102.6
4 20100 20.5 102.6
5 20011 19.8 98.3

Figure 4(a). The longitudinal vibration was found at 20150 Hz frequency, under the
ultrasonic generator frequency range.
The harmonic analysis of the designed horn was shown in Figure 4(b). The input
amplitude for the horn was kept 5 µm at transducer end with 20000 Hz frequency. The
designed horn amplified the input wave to 20.63 at the small diameter end as per
simulation results. The fabricated horn with wavelength schematic is shown in Figure 4
(c). The designed horn amplified the magnitude of the wavelength from the central nodal
point. The experimental setup for the natural frequency validation has been shown in
Figure 5(a). The horn was fixed on the stand with no movement in the horizontal and

Figure 4. (a) Modal analysis with three different mode shapes of D3 design, (b) harmonic analysis of
the developed horn and (c) fabricated horn with wave transformation schematic.

Figure 5. (a) Laser vibrometer setup and (b) natural frequency of the fabricated horn.
8 G. SINGH AND P. M. PANDEY

rotational direction. Figure 5(b) describes the experimental natural frequency of the
fabricated horn. It was noticed that the experimental result agrees with the simulation
result with a 5% error margin.
Further, the FEM analysis of the designed horn was simulated with the customised
crucible. The length and shape of the customised crucible were adjusted for the long-
itudinal mode shape. The natural frequency and vibration amplitude were found to be
20525 Hz and 20.3 µm, respectively. The temperature-dependent properties of the horn
material were used at the designed crucible end to study the effect of temperature on the
vibration amplitude by FEM analysis. The natural frequency and harmonic amplitude at
high temperatures are shown in Figure 6.
It was found that the natural frequency fluctuation at high temperatures was observed
to be between 20525 to 20257 Hz. As the temperature was increased, the natural
frequency of the horn changed. It could be due to the change in material stiffness with
a change in material properties [21]. Thus, the designed horn could be used to work at
a high temperature under the ultrasonic generator range. It was observed that the
harmonic amplitude value decreased with an increase in environmental temperature.
The reason for the change in harmonic amplitude may be due to the change in Young’s
modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion value of the material. As Young’s modulus
decreased and the coefficient of thermal expansion increased, the plasticity or strain
hardening increased and decreased the ultrasonic displacement amplitude.
The developed ultrasonic horn was used to sinter bronze particles at two different
temperatures. Table 2 shows the density and calculated porosity of the sintered samples
of 700 and 800
C sintering temperature, with ultrasonic-assisted sintering and with
conventional sintering. The sintered specimen density value increased by 7.8 % at 700
C

Figure 6. Effect of temperature on the (a) natural frequency and (b) harmonic amplitude.

Table 2. Density and calculated porosity of the sintered specimen at different temperatures.
Calculated
Density (g/cm3) Porosity (%)
Sintering Temperature Conventional Ultrasonic Conventional Ultrasonic
(
C) Sintering Sintering Sintering Sintering
700 5.91 6.41 27.9 21.89
800 6.20 6.88 24.39 16.06
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES 9

and 9.8 % at 800 with the influence of ultrasonic vibration assistance. The effectiveness of
ultrasonic vibration in the densification of the metal powders was an overall contribution
of different factors such as stress superposition and acoustic softening. Thus, the ultra-
sonic-assisted sintered samples have low calculated porosity as compared to conventional
sintered samples.
The SEM morphology of the sintered sample is shown in Figure 7. It was observed that
the samples sintered at 700
C with ultrasonic vibration has large necking and small pores
as compared to the conventional sintered sample. Similar morphology behaviour was
observed with sample sintered at 800
C, ultrasonic vibration densified the morphology
with small pores as compared to conventional sintering. In ultrasonic-assisted sintering,
it is believed that the ultrasonic vibration increased the contacts between the particles
with cyclic stress and increased the local temperature by friction [22–25]. The metal
particles absorbed the generated heat and decreased material flow stress [9]. The cyclic
stress increased the sintering driving force and densified the material with small pores.

4. Conclusions
(1) The long-stepped horn with multi nodes and antinodes has been designed for the
ultrasonic-assisted sintering as per sintering furnace requirement.
(2) The experimental natural frequency of the fabricated horn agrees with the simula-
tion result with a 5 % margin error.

Figure 7. SEM images (at 500x) of the sintered bronze (a) at 700°C, (b) at 800°C with conventional
sintering and (c) at 700°C, (d) at 800°C with ultrasonic sintering.
10 G. SINGH AND P. M. PANDEY

(3) The designed horn natural frequency at high temperatures was found to be under
the ultrasonic generator working frequency.
(4) The vibration displacement amplitude was found to decrease with respect to the
temperature at the crucible end.
(5) The developed horn was successfully used to sinter the bronze particles at 700 and
800
C temperatures. It has been found that the ultrasonic vibration increased the
density of the sintered specimen by 7.8–9.8% as compared to conventional
sintering.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID
Gurminder Singh http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5921-9638

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