The deformation of metal powder particles: Hardness and microstructure

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. The modelling of powder densification requires knowledge about the material properties of the particles. Some models use the material properties of the material in bulk as inputs for modelling the densification of assemblies of powder particles. It is important to understand how these properties differ when the material is in powder form. Existing works tend to analyse bulk material or powder exclusively and rarely compare properties such as hardness between the two. This work compares the microstructures and hardness of metal powder with bulk material with the aim of guiding the assumptions made in the modelling of metal powder densification. It is expected that the rapid solidification typical in the atomisation of metals results in significant differences in behaviour when compared with material produced via casting and hot/cold working