Densification model for porous metallic powder materials

A new mechanical model for powder metallurgy compaction is presented. In this model, various amount of voids can be introduced into a continuous solid, therefore the porosity can be conveniently controlled. The elastic–plastic finite element method was used to analyze the sintered powder material. The model was used to simulate compressing of a sintered cylinder. MSC.Marc of MSC.Software Corporation was applied here. Experiment was carried out using a computer controlled universal tensile testing machine. The load–displacement curves agree with the experimental results very well. The plastic deformation of a metallic material is mostly caused by the slipping of the crystal lattice. Although very small, a metal powder particle is composed of a metallic crystal. The mechanical properties of a powder particle should be very close to those of their solid metal counterpart.