A constitutive model and FE simulation for the sintering process of powdercompacts

A model for describing the entire sintering process of powder compacts is p resented based on the thermal elastoviscoplastic theory. The predications o f shrinkage and stress changes of WC-6%Co powder compacts during sintering process are simulated using the ABAQUS code. It was found that simulation r esults for displacements are a good fit of the experimental data. In situ m easurement technique and simulation for stresses indicate that maximum tens ile stresses always arise at the beginning of cooling stage. The tensile ho op stress sigma(33) is a major stress, which may cause surface crack in the cylinder specimen in sintering process and is compared with experimental o bservation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.