Localized Defects in Cold Die-Compacted Metal Powders

In powder metallurgy (PM), the compaction step is fundamental to determining the final properties of the sintered components. The deformation and defectiveness introduced in the powder material during uniaxial die compaction can be correlated to the activation and enhancement of the dislocation pipe diffusion, a lattice diffusion mechanism during the sintering process. Its coefficient depends on the dislocation density. The powder particles are mostly deformed along the direction of the compaction (longitudinal direction) rather than along the compaction plane; consequently, the contact areas perpendicular to the direction of the compaction present a higher density of dislocations and lattice defects. This high density intensifies the shrinkage along the direction of compaction. To demonstrate the influence of uniaxial cold compaction on the material’s stress state the powder particles and their contacts were modeled using spheres made of pure copper. These spheres are compacted in a die at different pressures to better analyze the system’s response at the grade of deformation and the consequent influence on the material’s behavior during the sintering. In the different zones of the sphere, the micro-hardness was measured and correlated to the concentration of dislocations using the model for indentation size effect (ISE). After the compaction, the spheres were more deformed along the longitudinal than the transversal direction. The results obtained using hardness indentation show differences in the dislocation density between the undeformed and deformed spheres and, in the case of the compacted sphere, between the contact area along the longitudinal and the transversal direction.