Correlation mechanism between force chains and friction mechanism during powder compaction

The relation between friction mechanism and force chains characteristics has not yet been fully studied in the powder metallurgy research area.In this work,a uniaxial compression discrete element model is established based on the compaction process of ferrous powder.Furthermore,the correlation mechanism between force chains and the friction mechanism during powder compaction is investigated.The simulation results reveal a strong correlation between the variation of the friction coefficient and the evolution of force chains.During the powder compaction,the friction coefficient would eventually tend to be stable,a feature which is also closely related to the slip ratio between particles.The side wall friction and the friction between particles would have an important effect on the direction of force chain growth in about one-third of the area near the side wall.The research results provide theoretical guidance for improving the densification process of the powder according to the force chain and friction.

Safety control for powder compaction of initiating explosive device

Powder compaction is one of the most crucial processes in initiating explosive device manufacturing. The quality of powder compaction may influence the performances of product directly. Traditional powder compaction mainly makes use of manual gravitational spiral loading machine or lever loading machine. Potential accident by the strike in powder compaction of initiating explosive device could risk life, property and the environment. To prevent this risk, automatic control system and control strategy can be used to guarantee no strike in pressing process. The scope of this paper is to analyze and review the control strategy for powder compact and discuss the experimental results for the application of the proposed strategy.

Modification of Powder Compaction Equation of Kawakita

Based on an analysis of the validity of the powder compaction equation of Kawakita,a modified compaction equation is proposed.It is shown by the statistical analysis on the experimental compaction data of various powders that in most cases the proposed equation provides a better description of the compaction data than Kawakita's equation,especially in the cases of the compaction of hard material powders.

On Numerical Modelling of Industrial Powder Compaction Processes for Large Deformation of Endochronic Plasticity at Finite Strains

Compaction processes are one the most important par ts of powder forming technology. The main applications are focused on pieces for a utomotive, aeronautic, electric and electronic industries. The main goals of the compaction processes are to obtain a compact with the geometrical requirements, without cracks, and with a uniform distribution of density. Design of such proc esses consist, essentially, in determine the sequence and relative displacements of die and punches in order to achieve such goals. A.B. Khoei presented a gener al framework for the finite element simulation of powder forming processes based on the following aspects; a large displacement formulation, centred on a total and updated Lagrangian formulation; an adaptive finite element strategy based on error estimates and automatic remeshing techniques; a cap model based on a hard ening rule in modelling of the highly non-linear behaviour of material; and the use of an efficient contact algorithm in the context of an interface element fo rmulation. In these references, the non-linear behaviour of powder was adequately desc ribed by the cap plasticity model. However, it suffers from a serious deficiency when the stress-point reaches a yield surface. In the flow theory of plasticit y, the transition from an elastic state to an elasto-plastic state appears more or less abruptly. For powder material it is very difficult to define the locati on of yield surface, because there is no distinct transition from elastic to ela stic-plastic behaviour. Results of experimental test on some hard met al powder show that the plastic effects were begun immediately upon loading. In such mater ials the domain of the yield surface would collapse to a point, so making the di rection of plastic increment indeterminate, because all directions are normal to a point. Thus, the classical plasticity theory cannot deal with such materials and an advanced constitutive theory is necessary. In the present paper, the constitutive equations of powder materials will be discussed via an endochronic theory of plasticity. This theory provides a unifi ed point of view to describe the elastic-plastic behaviour of material since it places no requirement for a yield surface and a ’loading function’ to disting uish between loading an unloading. Endochronic theory of plasticity has been app lied to a number of metallic materials, concrete and sand, but to the knowledge of authors, no numerical scheme of the model has been applied to powder material . In the present paper, a new approach is developed based on an endochronic rate independent, density-dependent plasticity model for describing the isothermal deformation behavior of metal powder at low homologous temperature. Although the concept of yield surface has not been explicitly assumed in endochronic theory, it is shown that the cone-cap plasticity yield surface (Fig.1), which is the m ost commonly used plasticity models for describing the behavior of powder materi al can be easily derived as a special case of the proposed endochronic theory. Fig.1 Trace of cone-cap yield function on the meridian pl ane for different relative density As large deformation is observed in powder compaction process, a hypoelastic-pl astic formulation is developed in the context of finite deformation plasticity. Constitutive equations are stated in unrotated frame of reference that greatly s implifies endochronic constitutive relation in finite plasticity. Constitutive e quations of the endochronic theory and their numerical integration are establish ed and procedures for determining material parameters of the model are demonstra ted. Finally, the numerical schemes are examined for efficiency in the model ling of a tip shaped component, as shown in Fig.2. Fig.2 A shaped tip component. a) Geometry, boundary conditio n and finite element mesh; b) density distribution at final stage of

Effects of temperature on the mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V powder compacts prepared by magnetic pulse compaction

The effects of temperature （0-500°C） on the compressive strength,hardness,average relative density,and microstructure of Ti6Al4V powder green compacts prepared by magnetic pulse compaction were investigated.The results show that with increasing heating temperature,the compressive strength first increases and then decreases with the maximum value of 976.74 MPa at 400°C.The average relative density and hardness constantly increase,and their values reach 96.11% and HRA 69.8 at 500°C,respectively.The increase of partial welding is found among the junctions of particles inside the compacts; there is no obvious grain growth inside the compacts within the temperature range.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V powder compacts prepared by magnetic pulse compaction

Ti6Al4V powder compaction was performed by using magnetic pulse compaction in air at 200℃.Effects of process parameters such as voltage,capacitance,discharge times on the microstructure,compressive strength,hardness and relative density of compacts were investigated.The experimental results show that the relative density,hardness and compressive strength of compacted specimens increase with increasing voltage.In addition,the relative density and compressive strength of compacted specimens increase with the augmentation of capacitance in the range investigated.The relative density increases,the hardness firstly increases and then tends to be a fixed value;and the compressive strength firstly increases and then decreases from one to five times compaction.Both values of the hardness and compressive strength reach the maxima of HRA 69.1 and 1 062.31 MPa,at three times compaction,respectively.There are pores in and between particles.

The Low-Voltage Electromagnetic Compaction of Powder Materials

The low-voltage-electromagnetic forming was applied to powder compaction.A series of experiments was performed to compact aluminum,copper and tin powders in an indirect working way.Having compacted high-density powder parts successfully,the authors analyzed the effects of voltage,capacitance,friction,compaction times,powder size and other factors on the densities of compacted specimens.The experimental results show that lower voltage but larger capacitance are beneficial to increasing the density and homogeneity of the compacted specimens,if the loading velocity and discharging energy are suitable.The higher the voltage,the greater the percentage of energy consumed by friction.If the equipment energy is limited,the iterative compaction is an efficient way to manufacture homogeneous and high-density powder parts.

Improved model and 3D simulation of densification process for iron powder

A new model for describing the compaction process of iron powder was proposed based on the continuum hypothesis and elliptical yield criterion.To simulate the densification behaviour,the constitutive model was implemented in Marc computer program.For the relationship between load and displacement,different models were compared and the influence of the parameters in the constitutive equations was determined by means of simulation and experiments.The density distribution of a balancer was measured and simulated.The results show that the parameterηadopted plays a modification role for the load-displacement curve,and compared with other models the present model fits better with the experimental data in the later stage of the compaction process mainly due to the different parameters A and B.The friction on the contact surface contributes to the inhomogeneous density distribution under large deformation of the workpiece.The comparison between the simulation and experimental data indicates that this model can be used to predict the powder compact process precisely and effectively.

Comprehensive study on quasi-static and dynamic mechanical properties and wear behavior of Mg–B4C composite compacted at several loading rates through powder metallurgy

The present study aims to fabricate and evaluate the mechanical properties and wear behavior of Mg metal matrix composite,reinforced by 0,1.5,3,5 and 10 vol.%B4C microparticles.Mg−B4C samples were fabricated at 450℃ and under different loading rates by using split Hopkinson bar(SHB),drop hammer(DH)and Instron(QS)at strain rates of 1600,800 and 0.008 s–1,respectively.The mechanical properties including microhardness,quasi-static and dynamic compressive strengths and wear behavior of samples were experimentally investigated.The results show that,the hardness of SHB and DH samples is obtained to be 20.2%and 5.7%higher than that of the QS sample,respectively.The wear rate and wear mass loss of Mg–10.0%B4C samples fabricated by SHB were determined lower than those of the QS sample by nearly 33%and 39%,respectively.The quasi-static compressive strengths of Mg−5.0%B4C are improved by 39%,30%and 29%for the SHB,DH and QS samples,respectively,in comparison with the case of pure Mg.Furthermore,it is discovered that the dynamic compressive strength of samples is 51%−110%higher than their quasi-static value with respect to the B4C content.

Improvement of deformation capacity of gas-atomized hypereutectic Al-Si alloy powder by annealing treatment

Gas-atomized pure metal or alloy powders are widely used as raw material in the preparation of high performance materials by powder metallurgy route（compaction and sintering）. However, cold compactibility of gas-atomized Al-Si alloy powder is inhibited due to the high strength as a result of the refined Si phases and the supersaturated Al matrix. The effect of annealing on improving the compactibility of Al-Si alloy powder was studied. The densification was investigated by the HECKEL compaction equation in terms of deformation capacity. Moreover, the microstructures and bending fracture surfaces of the green compacts were examined to clarify the densification behavior. The results show that a maximum relative density of 96.1% is obtained when the powder is annealed at 400 °C. The deformation capacity is significantly improved by annealing treatment due to the softening of Al matrix, precipitation of supersaturated Si phases, dissolution of needle-like eutectic phase, and spheroidization of Si phases.

Low frequency damping behavior associated with sintering process in Al powder compact

The internal friction behavior of Al green power compact duxing the sintering process was studied as a function of temperature. The internal friction measurements were performed from room temperature to 600 °C. Two typical internal friction peaks were detected corresponding to heating and cooling processes, respectively. The heating peak corresponds to a recrystallization process of deformed Al particles, which is influenced by many extrinsic parameters, such as measuring frequency, strain amplitude, heating rate, power particle size and compacting pressure. However, the intrinsic nature of the peak is originated from the micro-sliding of the weak-bonding interfaces between Al particles and increased dislocation density induced in compressing. The cooling peak with the activation energy of (1.64±0.06) eV is associated with the grain boundary relaxation, which can be interpreted as the viscous sliding of grain boundaries. The similar phenomena are also found in the Mg green powder compact.

THE STRUCTURE CONTROL OF ALUMINUM FOAMS PRODUCED BY POWDER COMPACTED FOAMING PROCESS

A new technique, powder compact foaming process for the production of aluminumfoams has been studied in this article. According to this method, the aluminum pow-der is mixed with a powder foaming agent (TiH_2). Subsequent to mixing, the powderblend is hot compacted to obtain a dense semi--finished product. Upon heating to tem-peratures within the range of the melting point, the foaming agent decomposes to evolvegas and the semi--finished product expands into a porous cellular aluminum. Foamingprocess is the key in this method. Based on experiments, the foaming characteris-tics were mainly analyzed and discussed. Experiments show that the aluminum--foamwith closed pores and a uniform cell structure of high porosity can be obtained usingthis method by adjusting the foaming parameters: the content of foaming agent andfoaming temperature.

Surface Modification Process by Electrical Discharge Machining with Ti Powder Green Compact Electrode

This paper describes a new method of surface modification by Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM). By using ordinary EDM machine tool and kerosene fluid, a hard ceramic layer can be created on the workpiece surface with Ti or other compressed powder electrode in a certain condition. This new revolutionary method is called Electrical Discharge Coating (EDC). The process of EDC begins with electrode wear during EDM,then a kind of hard carbide is created through the thermal and chemical reaction between the worn electrode material and the carbon particle decomposed from kerosene fluid under high temperature. The carbide is piled up on a workpiece quickly and becomes a hard layer of ceramic about 20 μm in several minutes. This paper studies the principle and process of EDC systemically by using Ti powder green compact electrode. In order to obtain a layer of compact ceramic film, it is very important to select proper electric pulse parameters, such as pulse width, pulse interval, peak current. Meantime, the electrode materials and its forming mode will effect the machining surface quality greatly. This paper presents a series of experiment results to study the EDC process by adopt different technology parameters. Experiments and analyses show that a compact TiC ceramic layer can be created on the surface of metal workpiece. The hardness of ceramic layer is more 3 times higher than the base body, and the hardness changes gradiently from surface to base body. The method will have a great future because many materials can be easily added to the electrode and then be coated on the workpiece surface. Gearing the parameters ceramic can be created with different thickness. The switch between deposition and removal process is carried out easily by changing the polarity, thus the gear to the thickness and shape of the composite ceramic layer is carried out easily. This kind of composite ceramic layer will be used to deal with the surface of the cutting tools or molds possibly, in order to lengthen their life. It also can be found wide application in the fields of surface repairing and strengthening of the ship or aircraft.

Mechanical characterization of Mg-B4C nanocomposite fabricated at different strain rates

Magnesium has wide application in industry.The main purpose of this investigation was to improve the properties of magnesium by reinforcing it using B4C nanoparticles.The reinforced nanocomposites were fabricated using a powder compaction technique for 0,1.5vol%,3vol%,5vol%,and 10vol% of B4C.Powder compaction was conducted using a split Hopkinson bar(SHB),drop hammer(DH),and Instron to reach different compaction loading rates.The compressive stress–strain curves of the samples were captured from quasi-static and dynamic tests carried out using an Instron and split Hopkinson pressure bar,respectively.Results revealed that,to achieve the highest improvement in ultimate strength,the contents of B4C were 1.5vol%,3vol%,and 3vol% for Instron,DH,and SHB,respectively.These results also indicated that the effect of compaction type on the quasi-static strength of the samples was not as significant,although its effect on the dynamic strength of the samples was remarkable.The improvement in ultimate strength obtained from the quasi-static stress–strain curves of the samples(compared to pure Mg)varied from 9.9% for DH to 24% for SHB.The dynamic strength of the samples was improved(with respect to pure Mg)by 73%,116%,and 141%for the specimens compacted by Instron,DH,and SHB,respectively.The improvement in strength was believed to be due to strengthening mechanisms,friction,adiabatic heating,and shock waves.

Numerical investigation into the influence of the punch shape on the mechanical behavior of pharmaceutical powders during compaction

During the production of pharmaceutical tablets using powder compaction, certain common problems can occur, such as sticking, tearing, cutting, and lamination. In the past, the compressibility of the powder was calculated only along the axis of the device; consequently, critical areas of the material throughout the volume could not be identified. Therefore, finite element method （FEM） can be used to predict these defects in conjunction with the use of an appropriate constitutive model. This article summarizes the current research in the field of powder compaction, describes the Drucker-Prager Cap model calibration procedure and its implementation in FEM, and also examines the mechanical behavior of powder during compaction. In addition, the mechanical behavior of pharmaceutical powders in relation to changes in friction at the wall of the system is examined, and the dependence of lubrication effect on the geometry of the compaction space is also investigated. The influence of friction on the compaction process for the flat-face, fiat-face radius edge, and standard convex tablets is examined while highlighting how the effects of friction change depending on the shape of these tablets.

DEM simulations of die filling during pharmaceutical tabletting

The flow behaviour of powders from a stationary shoe into a moving die, which mimics the die filling process in a rotary tablet press, was analysed using a discrete element method （DEM）, in which 2D irregular shaped particles were considered. The influence of the particle shape, size and size distribution, the number of particles used in the simulation, the initial height of powder bed in the shoe, and the filling speed on the average mass flow rate and the critical filling speed （the highest speed at which the die can be completely filled） were explored. It has been found that a maximum flow rate is obtained at the critical filling speed for all systems investigated and poly-disperse systems have higher mass flow rates and higher critical filling speeds than mono-disperse systems. In addition, the powder with particles which can tessellate generally has a lower filling rate and a lower critical titling speed.