Discharge plasma sintering method and apparatus

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sinter a sintering material without exposing the sintering material to the atmospheric area by employing a capsule, provide a sintered molding of high purity and high quality, transfer a sintering mold to a conducting pressurization sintering machine in a chamber using a sintering mold transfer mechanism, and readily feed the sintering mold to the conducting pressurization sintering machine.SOLUTION: Included are a capsule 1 that can accommodate a sintering mold 2 in a sealed manner in a deoxidized atmosphere, a chamber 5 of a sealed structure F which has an open/close door 5a and in or from which the capsule can be stowed or taken out, an inert gas replacement unit 6 that brings the chamber to the deoxidized atmosphere through inert gas G replacement, a conducting pressurization sintering machine 7 that performs discharge plasma sintering on a sintering material W put in the sintering mold, and a sintering mold transfer mechanism 8 that can open the capsule which is disposed in the chamber and stored in the chamber in the deoxidized atmosphere, and transfer the sintering mold in the capsule into the conducting pressurization sintering machine.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1