The internal mold temperature profiles were
recorded during the heating and cooling cycle, by
using a thermocouple. Fig. 5 shows the internal
temperature profiles of parts molded with various
types of extended fins. The processing conditions
used were: a weight charge of 200 g, an oven
temperature of 270 1C, a rotational speed of
12 rpm, and with still air cooling.
All measured temperature profiles exhibited a similar heating/
cooling pattern as that shown in Fig. 4, which is a
typical temperature profile with four identifiable
stages: induction, adherence of powder, melting–
sintering of powder and fusion–densification [2,3],
as proposed by Crawford