sinter
/ˈsɪntə
/noun [mass noun]
1 Geology A hard siliceous or calcareous deposit precipitated from mineral springs.The spring pool has a rim of grey siliceous sinter up to 2 m wide and 0.5m high....
- The pool has a narrow rim of subfossil siliceous sinter that rises up to 50 cm above water level.
- During 1957, an orange flocculent precipitate containing metal sulphides appeared in the spring pool and became incorporated in the marginal sinter.
2Solid material which has been sintered, especially a mixture of iron ore and other materials prepared for smelting: typical blast-furnace burdens are 80% sinter, 20% ore...
- For decades, steelmakers have used highly polluting ovens to turn powdery coal and iron ore into chunks called coke and sinter, which are melted with superheated air to make iron.
- The increased sinter burden is also expected to enhance the productivity of blast furnaces, effecting a substantial reduction in the cost of sinter production and coke rate.
- Anderson points to new rules for sinter plants, which recover waste products from steel operations.
verb
(With reference to a powdered material) coalesce into a solid or porous mass by means of heating (and usually also compression) without liquefaction: [with object]: when the moisture is removed from the slurry the powder compact is sintered (as adjective sintered) sintered glass [no object]: metal powders sinter together under pressure...
- To create actual products from the trimmings, manufacturers would pulverize them and then sinter the resulting powder into parts, a process that would preserve the nanocrystalline structure.
- In the feed zone, because of specific rheological behavior, the polymer, either as granules or powder, can be quickly compacted or sintered by pressure and temperature, and can slip into the space between the extruder screw and sleeve.
- The problem of debris from the smashed part interfering with gases that must pass through tiny tubes was solved by sintering a filter into a central gasket.
Origin
Late 18th century (as a noun): from German Sinter; compare with cinder.