Application of Skorokhod’s Rheological Theory of Sintering to Analyze the Sintering Kinetics of Tungsten Powders

Valerii Skorokhod’s published papers focusing on experimental and theoretical studies of fine powder sintering are analyzed. The application of Skorokhod’s rheological theory of sintering to analyze the sintering kinetics of fine tungsten powders is described. The history of discovering and explaining a fundamentally new phenomenon of locally nonuniform densification in the sintering of actual powder bodies and the effect of this phenomenon on the subsequent sintering process are outlined. The reasons for which the physical theories of sintering could not be fully consistent with the experimental sintering of actual powder bodies are addressed. The structurization processes are found to have a predominant effect on the kinetic and thermodynamic densification factors in sintering.