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0.15Mg, and Al-12Sn made using air atomized aluminum powder and pressed to green densities of 75 to 98 pct were sintered under argon or nitrogen. Sintering in argon is only effective at high green densities when magnesium is present. In contrast, highly porous aluminum can be sintered in nitrogen without the need for magnesium. The oxygen concentration in the gas is reduced by the aluminum through a self-gettering process. The outer layers of the porous powder compact serve as a getter for the inner layers such that the oxygen partial pressure is reduced deep within the pore network. Aluminum nitride then forms, either by direct reaction with the metal or by reduction of the oxide layer, and sintering follows.

A manufacturing technique for the production of aluminum components is described. A resin-bonded part is formed by a rapid prototyping technique and then debound and infiltrated by a second aluminum alloy under a nitrogen atmosphere. During thermal processing, the aluminum reacts with the nitrogen and is partially transformed into a rigid aluminum nitride skeleton, which provides the structural rigidity during infiltration. The simplicity and rapidity of this process in comparison to conventional production routes, combined with the ability to fabricate complicated parts of almost any geometry and with high dimensional precision, provide an additional means to manufacture aluminum components.

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