A constitutive model and FE simulation for the sintering process of powder compacts

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