Modeling Cold Compaction and Springback for Particulate Reinforced Composites

摘要

Unlike conventional iron-based alloys, particulate reinforced composites experience significant dimensional changes during springback and sintering. As a result, the final compact size is significantly different from the die geometry. This dimensional change presents an additional challenge to the wide scale usage of particulate reinforced composites in traditional press and sinter applications. Modeling of the compaction and sintering of these composites can help predict the dimensional changes and enable tooling design for net shape molding without the need for multiple iterations on the die design. Constitutive models for powder compaction are used to simulate the compaction of a gear made from aluminum reinforced composite. The simulation is used to predict the density and stress distribution within the compact as well as the stress distribution within the tooling. The simulation tracks the density and stress distributions during compaction, and the springback after ejection of the part from the die is calculated. Measurements of the density distribution within a compact and springback are made. The results from the simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results.