Finite element simulation of powder forming and sintering

A viscoplastic finite element method for simulating macroscopic deformation in powder forming processes is presented. This method is formulated on the basis of the plasticity theory of a porous material to take the change in apparent volume during the forming. The finite element method is extended to simulation of sintering by including the shrinkage strain-rate due to the sintering in the formulation. In addition, microscopic deformation in powder forming and sintering processes is simulated. The microscopic rotation of powder particles during the compaction is dealt with by the Cosserat continuum mechanics. The microscopic shrinkage on the scale of powder particles in the sintering is simulated by the granular element method. Both microscopic and macroscopic shrinkages in the sintering are simulated by coupling the finite element method with the Monte Carlo method. The calculated results in powder forming and sintering processes are shown.