Experimental and numerical analysis on the sintering behaviours of injection moulded components in 316L stainless steel powder

International audienceThe sintering behaviours of injection moulded components in 316L stainless steel powder are investigated by means of the bending and dilatometric tests in the furnace. Various thermal cycles are realised for different tests. The experimental results are used to determine the parameters of uniaxial viscosity and sintering stress in the viscoplastic constitutive law, which is important for description of the sintering behaviours. The sintering models are implemented into the finite element solver, incorporated with the identified parameters, to simulate the size change and shape distortion of powder injection moulded components during the sintering process. The sintering simulation takes into account the green inhomogeneity caused by powder binder segregation in the previous injection process. The simulation results for the sintering process of a three-dimensional wheel component are compared with the experimental ones. It proved validity of the sintering model and the approaches for parameter determination proposed in the study