A new computational algorithm for contact friction modeling of large plastic deformation in powder compaction processes

In this paper, the large deformation frictional contact of powder forming process is modeled based on a new computational algorithm by imposing the contact constraints and modifying the contact properties of frictional slip. A simple and efficient numerical algorithm is presented for imposing the contact constraints and frictional contact properties based on the node-to-surface contact technique to simulate the large deformation contact problem in the compaction process of powder. The Coulomb friction law is used to simulate the friction between the rigid punch and the workpiece by the use of penalty approach. A double-surface cap plasticity model is employed together with the nonlinear contact friction algorithm within the framework of large FE deformation in order to predict the non-uniform relative density distribution during large deformation of powder die-pressing. Finally, the numerical schemes are examined for accuracy and efficiency in modeling of a set of powder components.     

Correlation mechanism of friction behavior and topological properties of the contact network during powder compaction

The effect of friction behavior on the compacted density is significant, but the relationship between the topological properties of the contact network and friction behavior during powder compaction remains unclear. Based on the discrete element method (DEM), a DEM model for die compaction was established, and the Hertz contact model was modified into an elastoplastic contact model that was more suitable for metal-powder compaction. The evolution of the topological properties of the contact network and its mechanism during powder compaction was explored using the elastoplastic contact model. The results demonstrate that the friction behavior between the particles is closely related to the topological properties of the contact network. Side wall friction results in smaller clustering coefficient (CC) and excess contact (EC) in the lower region near the side wall. Corresponding to this phenomenon, the upper region near the side wall has more high-stress particles when the major principal stress threshold was considered, and the CC and EC are significantly higher than those in the other regions. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving powder compaction behavior.     

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.     

Fracture in metal powder compaction

This paper presents a preliminary assessment and qualitative analysis on fracture criterion and crack growth in metal powder compact during the cold compaction process. Based on the fracture criterion of granular materials in compression, a displacement based finite element model has been developed to analyse fracture initiation and crack growth in metal powder compact. Approximate estimation of fracture toughness variation with relative density is established in order to provide the fracture parameter as compaction proceed. A single crack initiated from the boundary of a multi-level component made of iron powder is considered in this work. The finite element simulation of the crack propagation indicates that shear crack grows during the compaction process and propagates in the direction of higher shear stress and higher relative density. This also implies that the crack grows in the direction where the compaction pressure is much higher, which is in line with the conclusion made by previous researchers on shear crack growth in materials under compression. In agreement with reported work by previous researchers, high stress concentration and high density gradient at the inner corner in multi-level component results in fracture of the component during preparation.     

Modeling of the metal powder compaction process using the cap model. Part I. Experimental material characterization and validation

In order to produce crack free metal powder compacts that respect both the dimensional tolerances and the mechanical strength requirements, both tooling design and compaction sequence have to be adequately determined. The finite element method, through the use of an appropriate constitutive model of the powder medium, has recently been used as an efficient design tool. The accuracy of this method highly depends on the faithfulness of the constitutive model and the quality of the material parameter set. Furthermore, in order for the simulation results to be reliable, they should be experimentally validated on real parts featuring density variations. Hence, the main concerns of this paper are the development of a standard calibration procedure for the cap material model as well as the development of a reliable technique for the experimental validation of the powder compaction simulation results.The developed calibration procedure, applied for the case of 316L stainless steel powders, is based on a series of isostatic, triaxial and uniaxial compaction tests as well as resonant frequency tests. In addition, a sensitivity study was performed in order to determine the relative importance of each factor and basic simulations served to validate the parameter set extraction procedure.On the other hand, a local density measurement technique was developed for the experimental validation of the model results. This technique is based on correlation with Vickers macro-hardness. Finally, an application featuring the compaction of a 316L stainless steel cylindrical component is presented to illustrate the predictive capabilities of the cap material model as well as the accuracy of the acquired material parameter set.     

Extended finite element method in plasticity forming of powder compaction with contact friction

In this paper, a new computational technique is presented based on the eXtended Finite Element Method (X-FEM) in pressure-sensitive plasticity of powder compaction considering frictional contact. In X-FEM, the need for mesh adaption to discontinuity interface is neglected and the process is accomplished by partitioning the domain with some triangular sub-elements whose Gauss points are used for integration of the domain of the elements. The technique is applied by employing additional functions, which are added to approximate the displacement field of the elements located on the interface. The double-surface cap plasticity model is employed within the X-FEM framework in numerical simulation of powder material. The plasticity model includes a failure surface and an elliptical cap, which closes the open space between the failure surface and hydrostatic axis. The moving cap expands in the stress space according to a specified hardening rule. The frictional behavior of contact between two bodies is modeled by using the X-FEM technique and applying the Heaviside enrichment function. The application of X-FEM technique in simulation of pressure-sensitive material is presented in an incremental manner and the role of sub-elements in simulation of contact treatment is demonstrated. Finally, several numerical examples are analyzed with special reference to plasticity forming of powder compaction.     

基于颗粒物质力学的铁粉末压制中摩擦特性对力链演化影响

结合颗粒物质力学理论,通过离散元法实现铁粉末压制过程模拟并通过压制方程进行验证,针对粉末体系中的力链演化问题,提出力链特征定量分析方式,进一步通过分析不同颗粒间摩擦系数、侧壁摩擦系数与颗粒运动状态转变的方式,探讨摩擦特性对力链量化特征的影响,从而建立摩擦行为与力链演化间的联系. 研究结果表明:随颗粒间摩擦系数增大,整体力链数目变少,力链方向系数、承载不均匀度及单位屈曲度均变大,而随侧壁摩擦系数增大,力链特征差异较小,则颗粒间摩擦系数较侧壁摩擦系数对力链特征演化具有更显著影响. 同时发现,颗粒接触状态的改变与力链特征演化间具有对应性. 研究成果将进一步拓展粉末压制中考虑摩擦行为及力链演化过程在内的粉体致密化行为理论.      

振动摩擦机理及其非线性动力学特性

本文揭示了振动工况下散体物料的振动摩擦机理,给出了振动参数与土壤内摩擦力的关系曲线,并用数值试验方法模拟了复杂的振动摩擦压实过程,分别给出了振频和振幅对土壤孔隙比和轴向应力均值的关系曲线,验证了振动压实减摩机理的正确性.结果表明:松散物料在振动工况下,其颗粒间的摩擦力由静摩擦力转变为动摩擦力,随着振频和振幅的增加,摩擦阻力减小,从而土的内摩擦力减小,并且存在最优的振动强度使土壤在振动压实过程中的内摩擦力最小.建立了基于振动压路机的振动摩擦系统非线性动力学模型,利用渐进法得到了振动压实过程的共振响应和非共振响应.     

Numerical prediction of soil compaction in geotechnical engineering

Soil compaction involves a reduction in volume of the soil mass instead of settlement, which has been considered as one of the most important methods to increase geomaterials' strength in geotechnical engineering practice. This paper presents a numerical model to simulate soil compaction using the finite-element method with finite deformation. The fundamental formulations for soil compaction are introduced first. Then the model is employed to simulate the compaction process and predict spatial density, in which the soil is modeled as elastoplastic material. The Drucker–Prager/Cap model is integrated in the large-deformation finite-element code and used to model the gradual compaction process of soil. Representative simulations of practical applications in geotechnical/pavement engineering are provided to demonstrate the feasibility of predicting soil compaction density using the proposed large-deformation finite-element model.     

Instability of sintering of porous bodies

Sintering models are discussed and used to analyze flow instabilities that may arise during preliminary compaction of powders. These instabilities can be at the origin of heterogeneities in the densification. The material is modeled as a viscoplastic thermal sensitive porous material. The modeling includes the limit case of a linear viscous material. The effects of sintering conditions (temperature and pressure in the case of pressure sintering) and the effects of material characteristics such as porosity, heat capacity, theoretical density, surface tension, particle size and creep parameters on stability of sintering are investigated. The heat release associated with the plastic flow is shown to sometimes have an important role. Stability criteria are derived and applied to the analysis of sintering and hot isostatic pressing, using various sintering models. These stability criteria can be used to optimize the densification process; one can control, for example, temperature so as to avoid any instability. Stability maps enabling an optimization of temperature–pressure regime in hot isostatic pressing are built for sample metal (nickel) powder.     

钨粉爆炸烧结对粉末初始参数依赖关系的研究

本文从粉末爆炸烧结的能量沉积概念出发,提出了粉末爆炸烧结下限概念,讨论了钨粉末的爆炸烧结密度值和硬度分布对粉末初始参数的依赖关系,给出了实验结果。从理论和实验阐述了粉末初始参数在爆炸烧结实验中的重要作用。     

Modeling of high-density compaction of granular materials by the Discrete Element Method

Cold compaction of metal powders is now commonly studied at a microscopic scale, to further our understanding of contact mechanics between grains. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is therefore, a good compromise between calculation time and precision. DEM simulations are in general limited to a relative density of about 0.8, because the existing contact laws do not reproduce all the physical phenomena involved in the densification of granular media. Local contact mechanics can be studied by finite element analyses on meshed distinct elements (MDEM, Meshed Distinct Element Method). However, this method is too time-consuming when in the presence of a large number of grains. In the following work, a new analytical contact law will be formulated with MDEM which will subsequently be used to validate the DEM model. Thus, it will be possible with DEM modeling to reproduce high-density compaction of random packings up to a relative density of about 0.95. By introducing a local relative density parameter in the force–displacement relationship, the incompressibility effects which rule high-density behaviors can be introduced in the modeling of powder compaction.     

温压成型和微波烧结TiC/316L 复合材料的摩擦磨损特性

为提高TiC/316L不锈钢复合材料的致密度和力学性能,采用温压成型和微波烧结复合方法制备了质量百分数为5%的TiC/316L复合材料.在MM-200型环块磨损试验机上研究了复合材料在干摩擦条件下的摩擦磨损性能,并与传统粉末冶金法制备的复合材料耐磨性能进行了对比研究.结果表明:与传统粉末冶金法相比,在相同的烧结温度下,采用温压成型和微波烧结制备的TiC/316L复合材料虽然内部也存在一些孔隙,但组织比较均匀,烧结比较充分,复合材料的致密度和耐磨性均得以提高.随着温压压制压力的增加,复合材料的相对密度和耐磨性快速增加,但过高的压制压力不利于耐磨性的提高.摩擦磨损试验结果表明在压制压力为400 MPa时,复合材料的耐磨性较好.     

Discrete element method for high-temperature spread in compacted powder systems

The discrete element method is applied to investigate high-temperature spread in compacted metallic particle systems formed by high-velocity compaction. Assuming that heat transfer only occurs at contact zone between particles, a discrete equation based on continuum mechanics is proposed to investigate the heat flux. Heat generated internally by friction between moving particles is determined by kinetic equations. For the proposed model, numerical results are obtained by a particle-flow-code-based program. Temperature profiles are determined at different locations and times. At a fixed location, the increase in temperature shows a logarithmic relationship with time. Investigation of three different systems indicates that the geometric distribution of the particulate material is one of the main influencing factors for the heat conduction process. Higher temperature is generated for denser packing, and vice versa. For smaller uniform particles, heat transfers more rapidly.     

Propagation of compaction waves in metal foams exhibiting strain hardening

One-dimensional models for compaction of cellular materials exhibiting strain hardening are proposed for two different impact scenarios. The models reveal the characteristic features of deformation under the condition of decreasing velocity during the impact event. It was established that an unloading plastic wave of strong discontinuity propagates in the foam and it has a significant dynamic effect on the foam compaction and energy absorption. The proposed models are based on the actual experimentally derived stress strain curves. The compaction mechanism in three aluminium based foam materials, two of them with relatively low density – Alporas and Cymat with 9% and 9.3% relative density, respectively and a higher density Cymat foam with 21% relative density, is analysed. Numerical simulations were carried out to verify the proposed models.The predictions of the proposed models are compared with published analytical models of compaction of cellular materials which assume a predefined densification strain. It is shown that the approximation of a cellular material with significant strain hardening by the Rigid Perfectly-Plastic-Locking (RPPL) model can lead to an overestimation of the energy absorption capacity for the observed stroke due to the non-uniform strains along the compacted zone of the actual material in contrast to the predefined constant densification strain in the RPPL model. The assumption of a constant densification strain leads also to an overestimation of the maximum stress, which occurs under impact.     

WC/Al2O3颗粒增强Cu基复合材料爆炸粉末烧结实验研究

利用爆炸粉末烧结工艺,探索WC /Al2O3同时作为增强基颗粒制取多种颗粒增强Cu基复合材料的可行性,同时分析了工艺参数对压实坯致密度的影响。研究了复合材料的微观组织和致密度、韧性和硬度等性能,爆炸粉末烧结法可以成功制出WC/ Al2O3/Cu多种颗粒增强金属基复合材料。     

Study of particle rearrangement during powder compaction by the Discrete Element Method

This paper presents simulations of cold isostatic and closed die compaction of powders based on the Discrete Element Method. Due to the particulate nature of powders, densification of the compact proceeds both through the plastic deformation at the particle contact and the mutual rearrangement of particles. The relative weight of each mechanism on the macroscopic deformation process depends on the contact law, the relative density, and the type of stress exerted on the particles (shear or pressure). 3D computer simulations have been carried out to investigate the role of these parameters on the deformation mechanisms of powder compacts. The effect of rearrangement is studied by comparing simulations that use a homogeneous strain field solution for which local rearrangement is omitted and simulations that include local rearrangement. It is shown that local rearrangement has some effect on average quantities such as the average coordination number, the average contact area and the macroscopic stress. The effect on averaged quantities is much stronger for closed die compaction than for isostatic compaction. However the main effect of local rearrangement is to widen the distribution of the parameters that define the contact (contact area in particular). The results of these simulations are compared to available experimental data and to statistical models that use a homogeneous strain field assumption.     

An alternative analytic approach to the Brazilian disc test with friction at the disc-jaw interface

The role of the tangential (friction) stresses developed at the disc-jaw interface during the standardized realization of the Brazilian disc test is quantified. Sinusoidal variation of both the radial pressure and the friction stresses is considered. The pressure is maximized at the symmetry axis of the load distribution while friction is maximized at the mid-point of the contact semi-arc. Both load distributions (radial and frictional) are exerted along the actual contact length as it is developed during the loading procedure. The stress field all over the disc due to friction stresses is determined in closed form using the complex potentials technique. The solution obtained is applied for two materials both of brittle nature and of different relative deformability compared to steel (i.e. the material of the jaw). The stress field due to friction is compared for both materials with that due to radial pressure, and then, the two solutions are superimposed in order to quantify the total stress field. It is concluded that as one approaches the loading platens, non-ignorable tensile stresses are developed that could lead the disc to premature failure far from the disc’s center. The magnitude of these stresses strongly depends among others on the relative deformability of the disc’s and jaw’s materials since the latter dictates the extent of the loading rim.     

Particle morphology and packing effects on the shock loading of powders

A physically based model for the shock Hugoniot of a powdered material is described which allows separate identification of the cold and thermal contributions to pressure and specific internal energy. Special features of this model are provision for the effects of porosity on the stress state and an empirically determined cold loading contribution to pressure. The model was tested against published Hugoniot data for iron and gave excellent agreement for shock pressures ranging from low to high values.This shock Hugoniot was used to explore the shocked state of 4 samples of iron powder derived from commercially available material. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of powder particle characteristics and initial starting densities on the shocked state.The powder samples investigated had a range of morphologies and sizes. Powders with either a large shape factor or high internal friction, as determined in shear cell experiments, exhibited a higher stiffness in the cold loading curve. In the shocked state, this translated into a higher cold component of pressure and energy than found in the other powders.The effect of initial powder density was studied by applying the Hugoniot model to two impact initiated shock loadings, one for a stainless steel flyer impacting at 0.5 km/s and one at the higher velocity of 2.0 km/s. Both were applied to iron powder targets preloaded to a range of initial densities. For a given impact event, the proportion of shock energy in the thermal mode was found to decrease with increasing initial density. This decrease was more pronounced at higher shock strengths. As a result of the decreasing component of thermal energy with higher initial density, there was a reduction in the continuum temperature behind the shock. However, the corresponding increase in the component of cold energy with the falling relative contribution from the thermal energy lead to increasing density behind the shock suggesting that there is a trade off in terms of temperature and density achievable with a given impact event.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1.0 and the AMS fonts, developed by the American Mathematical Society.     

Validation of a numerical model for the simulation of an electrostatic powder coating process

Numerical modeling of a complete powder coating process is carried out to understand the gas-particle two-phase flow field inside a powder coating booth and results of the numerical simulations are compared with experimental data to validate the numerical results. The flow inside the coating booth is modeled as a three-dimensional turbulent continuous gas flow with solid powder particles as a discrete phase. The continuous gas flow is predicted by solving Navier–Stokes equations using a standard k–ε turbulence model with non-equilibrium wall functions. The discrete phase is modeled based on a Lagrangian approach. In the calculation of particle propagation, a particle size distribution obtained through experiments is applied. The electrostatic field, including the effect of space charge due to free ions, is calculated with the use of the user defined scalar transport equations and user defined scalar functions in the software package, FLUENT, for the electrostatic potential and charge density.