Solid state reactive (SSR) sintering kinetics was observed for YAG ceramics. There were two densification stages in sintering process due to its reaction. After the first stage, samples began to expand, then, the second densification stage began. At a heating rate of 10 °C/min, the sample warped down and warped back to straight. The apparent activation energy of the first densification process was about 522 kJ/mol for the initial shrinkage of Al2O3 and Y2O3 mixed powder green-body, which increased in the following process due to the solid state reaction. In the second densification stage, synthesis reaction of YAG still worked. Green-bodies processed with higher heating rate got more shrinkage at the same temperature than lower heating rate green bodies. And its kinetic field diagram was abnormal, compared with that of other reported ceramics, such as Al2O3. It was found that the reaction of YAG provided positive effect to the sintering driving force. The apparent activation energy for densification of SSR YAG sintered in ArH5 atmosphere was 855 kJ/mol at temperature holding sintering. And the apparent activation energy for grain growth was 1053 kJ/mol.
