Continuum-based FEM modeling of ceramic powder compaction using a cap-plasticity constitutive model

Common ceramic component manufacturing typically involves the processing of the raw materials in powder form. Granulated powder is formed into a green body of the desired size and shape by consolidation, often by simply pressing nominally dry powder. Ceramic powders are commonly pressed in steel dies or rubber bags with the aim of producing a near-net-shape green body for subsequent sintering. Density gradients in these compacts, introduced during the pressing operation, are often severe enough to cause distortions in the shape of the part during sintering due to nonuniform shrinkage. In such cases, green machining or diamond grinding operations may be needed to obtain the desired final shape and size part. In severe cases, nonuniform shrinkage may even cause fracture in the parts during sintering. Likewise, density gradients can result in green bodies that break during ejection from the die or that are too fragile to be handled during subsequent processing. Empirical relationships currently exist to describe powder compaction but provide little understanding of how to control die design or compaction parameters to minimize density gradients thereby forcing the designer to use expensive and time consuming trial and error procedures. For this reason, interest has grown in developing computational tools to address this problem (Aydin et al., 1996 and Coube, 1998). The goal of the present work was to develop a general continuum-based finite element model for ceramic powder compaction that can be used to aid and guide the design and pressing of ceramic powders. Such a model can be used to improve both part and die/bag pressing design, resulting in more efficient and cost effective ways to make better parts