Compaction behavior of uniaxially cold-pressed Bi–Ta composites

Compaction of Bi and Ta powders was performed by uniaxial pressing at room temperature. Post-pressing density was evaluated as a function of the compaction pressure, and indicated that as the Ta content increases there is a reduction in density for comparable pressing conditions. A modified Heckel equation is used to evaluate the compaction behavior. The analysis indicates that the yield pressure increases with increasing Ta content while the Poisson’s ratio is not significantly affected. The yield pressure derived from the analysis compares favorably with published compression testing data for polycrystalline Bi.